True Destiny
by cleotheo
Summary: When Edward leaves in New Moon the rest of the Cullen's refuse to abandon Bella so they stay in Forks. With Edward gone secrets are revealed are new relationships are formed.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This is my first Twilight story as I normally write Harry Potter stories. At the minute this is all I've got wrote but I have ideas for the story if people are interested in it continuing. If I continue the story will flip back to when Edward left Bella in New Moon.**

* * *

The lights of Port Angeles glittered in the dark as a silver car zoomed through the streets at over a hundred miles per hour. The car's driver didn't slow down until he had left the town behind and came across a sign declaring he was now entering Forks. At the sign the car stopped and the owner stepped out, he was a tall good looking young man with messy bronze hair and golden brown eyes. As he left the vehicle he wondered if he was doing the right thing, he hadn't been in Forks in five years, he hadn't seen any of his family in five years. The young man stood thinking for ten minutes, never quite deciding anything for sure.

Edward Cullen was unsure if he should return, if he was even welcome by his family. Five years ago he had made the worst decision of his life and walked out, leaving them all behind. Standing at the small town's entrance he remembered that fateful night.

**...**

Edward ran through the woods back towards his house, in the distance he could hear Bella calling after him. He ran faster, away from the temptation to turn around and return to her, he was doing this for her own good, so she would remain safe.

Earlier Edward had told his family they had to leave Forks and Bella, for her own safety. After the incident at her birthday party where Jasper had wanted to drink from her, Edward decided it was time to walk away before Bella was seriously hurt or worse, killed. When he had told his family it had led to a huge argument with both Alice and Emmett arguing vehemently against Edward's idea. When Carlisle had insisted they follow Edward's wishes, Emmett had stormed out with Rosalie going after him to talk some sense into him, they still hadn't returned when Edward left to go and see Bella.

Arriving at the house Edward was shocked to see his family was still in residence, the plan had been for them to leave immediately and Edward would follow after telling Bella he was going. Entering the house he found Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Jasper waiting for him in the front room.

"What's going on? Why haven't you left?" Edward questioned his family, who all looked towards Carlisle.

"We're not leaving, Edward." Carlisle started to explain calmly. "After you left we discussed leaving and decided it wasn't right. Bella is part of this family and you don't leave your family behind."

"She's my mate and I decided we need to leave her." Edward growled.

"No," Alice cut in. "You decided YOU should leave Bella. She's my sister and I'm not going anywhere."

Edward looked around in disbelief. "Everyone wants to stay? Even Rose?"

"Yes Edward, everyone voted and Rose voted to stay." Esme told her son, putting a calming hand on his arm.

"NO," Edward shouted pulling away from Esme. "This isn't supposed to happen. You're supposed to support me and leave."

"Edward, you know we will always support you, but not when you are wrong." Carlisle interjected.

"I'm not wrong. This is my decision and I say we leave." Edward growled as he paced the floor.

"Then go." Said a voice from the doorway, Edward turned around to see an angry looking Emmett leaning against the doorframe. "Just because you've finally found an excuse to leave Bella doesn't mean the rest of us have to."

"What do you mean, now I've found an excuse?" Edward questioned Emmett, fighting the urge to lunge at him.

"You've been looking for an excuse since Bella first mentioned becoming a vampire." Emmett retorted. "you're happy to play about with her as a human, but you're in no hurry to spend eternity with her."

Edward snarled and lunged at his brother but was held back by Carlisle and Jasper. "Let go of me."

"No, Edward calm down." Jasper said as he began to send waves of calm to his brother.

As Jasper's calming vibes settled into the room, the vampire's looked at each other before Carlisle took charge.

"Thank you Jasper, maybe we can now talk calmly and decide what's happening."

Edward snorted, "I know what's happening, I'm leaving. Hopefully my family will come to their senses and support me."

Silence reigned in The Cullen house, eventually Edward turned and went up to his room. When he returned five minutes later with his bag, he gave his family one last chance to join him.

"Please, come with me. We can be packed and left within the hour."

Emmett snorted and left the room, Esme went over to Edward and wrapped him in a hug, "I wish we could, but we all feel we're doing the right thing. I'm sorry Edward, we love you."

After saying goodbye to Jasper, Alice and Carlisle, Edward left the house and put his luggage into his car. When he shut the car door and turned around he found Rosalie standing next to his door.

"Where were you? Why did you vote to stay Rose?" Edward asked, of all his family he expected Rose to be on his side.

"I'm not Bella's biggest fan but they're right, she's part of the family now." Rose shrugged an elegant shoulder. "But I understand your need to leave. Please keep in touch Edward, I love you."

Edward hugged his sister. "I love you too, Rose. Take care of her please."

Stepping back Rose nodded at Edward's request. Quickly Edward jumped into his car and sped off, the whole time thinking he had just made a huge mistake, a mistake that he could regret forever.

**...**

Edward pulled his car up in front of the house, he knew they would be expecting him, Alice's visions would have told them he was coming when he decided to enter Forks. Edward was nervous, he hadn't seen any of his family in five years, and he hadn't talked to Emmett at all since then even though he had spoken to all the other members of his family on the phone. Edward got out of his car and frowned, he could sense the presence of his family inside, but he couldn't hear any of their thoughts.

Frustrated by the silence Edward concentrated on what he could hear and sense, he could hear seven vampires and a human that didn't quite feel right. Edward stopped at that thought, seven vampires wasn't right, it should only be six. That's when it hit him, Bella's scent was mixed in with the other members of his family but it smelt different to how it used to, Bella was a vampire.

Summoning his courage, Edward pushed open the door and entered the house. Immediately he was pounced upon by an energetic Alice.

"Edward, you're home."

Edward untangled himself from his sister's grip. "Hi, Alice. It's great to see you too."

After he had escaped from Alice, the rest of the family bar Emmett gave him a hug and welcomed him back. After the greetings were exchanged and the family went back to where they were before Edward entered the room he took the chance to look around the room. Esme and Carlisle were sitting on the small sofa, Jasper was sitting on a chair with Alice in his lap. Rose was sitting on the large sofa next to a man Edward thought looked like Jacob Black from the reservation, only he was bigger and had shorter hair. Edward was confused by Jacob's presence and his awful wet dog smell, that clearly didn't bother anyone else. Next he looked at the only member of the family not to greet him, Emmett, who was sitting quietly in a chair by the fireplace. Lastly he let his gaze fall on the person he had been watching out of the corner of his eye since he entered the room, Bella.

Bella was standing unmoving next to the window, she looked beautiful, her eyes were now golden brown like the rest of the family, her already pale skin was even paler and her hair looked darker, longer and thicker. Not knowing what to say Edward just stared at the love of his life.

After several tense minutes, Jacob broke the silence. "I should leave, this is a family thing."

Carlisle immediately spoke up. "You don't have to leave, you're part of this family."

Edward spun around shocked at Carlisle's statement. Jacob stood up anyway.

"Thanks Carlisle, but Sue's making dinner for the pack so I should be going." Jacob said as he moved towards the door. "Rose, I'll see you tomorrow at one, don't be late." He smiled at the blonde before turning to Bella. "Bella, call me later, okay."

Bella nodded and smiled at Jacob, the first movement Edward had seen from her. "Okay, bye Jake. Say hi to Charlie and the pack from me."

There was more awkward silence after Jacob's departure, this time it was Edward who broke the silence.

"Why can't I hear anyone's thoughts? What's going on?"

Carlisle looked at Bella who shrugged and turned to look out the window.

"Edward, son, why don't you sit down and we'll answer your questions." Carlisle said gesturing to the seat on the sofa next to Rosalie.

"Yeah, and he can answer ours. Like why is he back now?" Emmett spoke up from his seat.

"I'm back because I miss my family and I've regretted leaving from the moment I left." Edward responded to his brother, from the looks of things Emmett would be the hardest member of his family to earn forgiveness off.

Sensing an argument brewing between his two sons Carlisle quickly spoke up.

"We'll get to that later, first Edward asked a question. Bella do you want to explain?"

Bella turned away from the window to look at Carlisle. "Why don't you explain and I'll fill in any details you can't."

"Fine, Edward this would probably be easier if you left any questions till the end okay?"

Edward was intrigued as to what Bella had to do with his inability to hear his family's thought's, he had never been able to hear hers but no one else had ever been a problem. "Okay Carlisle, I'll not interrupt."

Carlisle nodded. "As you know you were never able to hear Bella's thoughts as a human, well a few months after she became a vampire Tanya and her family visited. As you know Eleazar can sense people's gifts and he identified Bella as a shield."

Edward glanced at Bella who was still looking out the window seemingly paying no attention to the conversation going on about her. Edward looked back to Carlisle who was continuing his explanation.

"Bella and Kate worked on figuring out the shield and discovered it was incredibly strong, it can form both a mental and physical shield around Bella and whoever she chooses. Bella's been working hard on controlling it and she can effectively block whatever and whoever she wants, including Alice and Jasper."

After years of living with Carlisle Edward knew he had finished speaking and would leave any more information come from specific questions. For a few minutes Edward sat quiet, he had a lot of questions to ask but he wanted to ask the most important ones first.

"So the reason I can't hear anyone is that Bella is shielding them." Edward stated, at Carlisle's nod he continued. "What do you mean she can block Alice and Jasper, surely that's impossible."

This time it was Bella who spoke up. "Not impossible only very tricky and tiring." As she spoke she turned around from the window. "It took a long time and a lot of practice but eventually I learned to block them both."

"How?"

"To block Alice, I make sure my shield is secure before I make a decision. Blocking Jasper is harder, I can't do it if he uses his gift unexpectedly. If I know there will be a situation where he might use it, like with Alice I make sure my shield is secure and it won't work." Bella explained looking back towards the window.

"I understand all that, it's pretty impressive by the way. But why do you have your shield up against me?" Edward spoke straight to Bella this time. Bella turned and looked at him before speaking again.

"It's an automatic protective thing I do, when Alice said you were coming the shield went up automatically." Bella shrugged.

Edward felt guilty that his presence would bring out Bella's protective shield.

"You can remove the shield if you want, Bella." Esme spoke from where she was sitting tucked against her husband.

Bella slowly turned round and looked at each member of the family in turn, first Carlisle and Esme, then Alice and Jasper then Rosalie. Edward noticed two things, first they all nodded slightly as if giving Bella permission to remove the shield and second she failed to look at Emmett to get his permission. Mystified by what was going on, Edward watched as Bella closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again and nodding.

_Edward._ He heard Alice's voice in his head, the first thought from someone else he had picked up since arriving. "Yes, Alice I can hear you." He smiled at his sister.

Edward was aware that he was picking up on his family's thoughts again and felt relieved when he picked up on the love for him they were thinking about. Listening quietly to his family's thoughts Edward soon discovered they were happy to have him home and that they had been preparing for his homecoming for the last month. As he was listening to various thoughts Edward suddenly realised he hadn't heard Emmett once, zoning in on Emmett he concentrated hard but could still not hear him.

Emmett noticed what Edward was doing. "It won't work, you can't hear me." Emmett told him, alerting the entire room to what Edward had been doing.

"Why not? I've always been able to hear you before and Bella removed her shield." Edward asked Emmett as the room fell silent. When Emmett didn't reply Edward looked towards Carlisle, who said nothing and then Bella for an answer. "Bella, what's going on? I thought you removed your shield."

"I did," Bella shrugged. "Emmett is automatically covered by it, it would take a lot of effort to remove it and I don't want to."

Edward was confused. "Why is Emmett automatically covered? Why does it take so much more effort to remove it off him?"

Bella sighed and moved over to sit on the arm of Emmett's chair. "Because Emmett is my mate and my shield automatically protects us both."

Edward was quiet for a moment digesting what he had just heard before suddenly lunging at Emmett. Edward got to within an inch of where Emmett was sitting, completely unconcerned about his brother preparing to attack him, when he was suddenly stopped by an invisible force.

"Edward, I told you Bella's shield can also be a physical one." Carlisle exclaimed, standing and making his way over to his son. "Let's sit down and discuss this rationally."

"There is nothing to discuss, I can't believe you are all alright with this. They've betrayed me, and Rose why are you fine with this?" Edward stormed at this family.

"I'm fine with this because Emmett and Bella are happy and in love. They didn't betray anyone Edward." Rose told her brother calmly.

"How can you say that, they betrayed both you and me." Edward stormed.

Edward was so busy shouting at the rest of the family he failed to notice Emmett had stood up and was advancing on him, before he knew it Emmett had him pinned against the wall.

"We didn't betray anyone. Me and Rose weren't together anymore and you had left Bella. You have no right to come in here after five years and shout about people betraying you, if anything you've betrayed all of us by abandoning us."

Edward could feel the anger coming off Emmett in waves and because his brother was so much stronger than him he couldn't escape his grasp. Edward was starting to worry about what damage Emmett would bestow on him when Bella suddenly appeared at Emmett's side.

"Em, let him go baby." She said placing a hand on Emmett's arm. Edward snarled at the contact between his brother and the love of his life, and when Emmett released him from his grip he bolted from the house heading into the nearby forest.

* * *

Edward spent the next two hours hunting before slowly making his way towards home, when he neared the house he stopped and sat down on a log close enough so he could hear what was going on. He could hear the TV in the living room was showing a football match as he could hear Jasper and Carlisle shouting and cheering at the screen. Alice and Esme were discussing clothes, from the sounds of the conversation Alice was planning a trip to Paris to do some serious shopping. Rosalie was either talking to someone on the phone or going mad as her conversation was distinctly one sided, from the closeness of her voice he suspected Rose was in the garden. A few minutes of listening to Rose and it was clear she was talking to her lover as the conversation took a distinctly racy tone. Edward was shocked to hear Rose call her lover, Jake, surely she didn't mean the kid from the reservation.

The whole time he was listening to what his family was doing, Edward was aware that there was no sound coming from Bella and Emmett. He could sense their presence in the house but he could hear nothing of what they were doing, he assumed it was another feature of Bella's shield.

Edward sat on the log for another ten minutes before he felt he was ready to head back inside and hear what sort of explanation Bella and Emmett had for their treachery. Arriving in the house Edward was unsurprised to find his entire family waiting for him in the front room. Everyone was sitting in exactly the same places as they had been when he had first arrived at the house, except now Bella was sitting on the arm of Emmett's chair and his brother had his arm around her waist.

"I'm assuming you would like an explanation." Carlisle said once Edward had settled himself down on the sofa next to Rosalie.

"Yes, though I doubt anything could explain this." Edward said, shooting Bella and Emmett a dirty look.

"I know this is hard to hear, Edward. But Bella and Emmett were always meant to be together." Alice said, before she started to explain what had happened after he had left five years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - I would like to thank everyone for their support of this story. I will definitely be continuing it and I promise it will also get finished although it might take a while as I have a feeling this is going to be a long story. Normally I have a backlog of chapters so that I can post every few days but I haven't managed it with this story so far. At the minute I'll try to update every week until I can start posting more regularly but I'm currently working on two other stories so it might take a few weeks to get a backlog of this story. **

**I'm also interested in hearing what people would like to happen once Edward is back (Which will probably be a while because I've got five years to cover before then) I know exactly what happens while he's away but haven't yet started to consider what'll happen once he returns so any thoughts and ideas would be most welcome.**

* * *

**Five Years Ago.**

Emmett watched from the nearby trees as Edward said goodbye to Rose before driving off and abandoning the girl he claimed to love along with his entire family. Snarling at Edward's despicable behaviour Emmett took off into the trees, he was planning on checking on Bella as he knew she would be devastated by Edward's rejection. First though Emmett knew he needed to get his temper under control, he was furious at Edward and didn't want to risk hurting Bella accidentally.

Running through the trees, smashing into an occasional tree and uprooting it, Emmett contemplated how Edward could even think about abandoning Bella. Ever since she had entered their lives she had brought adventure and intrigue to their often mundane existence, plus she was great fun to hang out with and her clumsiness was often hilarious.

Emmett had never really spent time with humans, other than when he was at school, but he was often amazed that Bella wasn't fazed by spending time with a bunch of vampires. Emmet was often surprised that she was so comfortable around him, he was the biggest in the family and everyone knew he could easily hurt Bella without meaning to. But Bella trusted him implicitly which in turn made Emmett more confident that he could control his strength around her.

Even Jasper, who struggled the most with their vegetarian diet, didn't faze Bella and she often made an effort to get to know him as he was Alice's mate and she loved Alice like a sister. Emmett had always suspected that Bella and Jasper would get on really well if Edward hadn't been so hypersensitive about Jasper's bloodlust and had made such an effort to keep them apart. It was total overkill in Emmett's opinion, as long as Bella didn't start bleeding, then Jasper would be fine around her.

Thinking of Bella bleeding got Emmett thinking of the birthday incident that had started all the trouble. Edward had once again overreacted in Emmett's opinion. What started out as a simple paper cut got much worse once Edward had interfered. While Jasper was attracted to Bella's blood there was no way he would have done anything about it. It was only when Edward over reacted and caused Bella to cut her whole arm open that the temptation proved too strong for Jasper and he couldn't control his actions. Emmett knew that Jasper felt really bad about what had happened but hopefully with Edward out of the way he would get a chance to apologise to Bella and the two of them could hopefully become friends.

Emmett was so distracted with his thoughts that it had started to get dark before he finally stopped and assessed his surroundings. He was a couple of miles outside of Forks, so if he ran it wouldn't take him long to get to Bella's house and check on her.

Emmett had only been travelling for a few minutes when a familiar scent grabbed his attention. Emmett stopped and sniffed the air, confused by the smell. It was definitely Bella he could smell but what on earth was she doing in the middle of the woods, so far from home as it was getting dark. Surely Edward didn't take her into the woods to dump her and then just leave her. Growling at the idea of Edward abandoning Bella in the woods where she could get lost or injured Emmett set off in the direction of Bella's scent.

Emmett found Bella a few minutes later. The brunette girl was sitting curled up on the floor, crying her heart out.

"Bella." Emmett said, approaching her slowly so he didn't startle her.

Bella looked up at Emmett with tear filled eyes and started crying more as soon as she set eyes on him. Bella was trying to say something but she was crying so heavily Emmett could only pick up the odd few words here and there, even with his super hearing. One thing he could make out was that Bella kept mentioning Edward, his brother's name passed her lips multiple times.

"Bella, I'm going to take you home. Charlie will be worried." Emmett said.

When Bella just continued to cry, Emmett scooped her up in his arms and began heading back towards her house. Emmett decided to travel at human speed as he didn't think that Bella could cope with running through the trees at top speed. After a few minutes Bella's sobs calmed down and she seemed to regain some of her composure.

"He said you'd all left." Bella whispered, knowing Emmett would hear her.

"That's what he thought. He told us we were leaving but no-one else wanted to leave you behind." Emmett said, explaining what had happened. "When he came back and found us still there he was furious."

"Has he gone?" Bella asked quietly, she noticed that neither her or Emmett had said Edward's name in the conversation so far.

"Yes." Emmett replied. He wasn't sure how to tell Bella that Alice didn't see him being a part of their lives for a very long time, if ever.

"He's not coming back, is he?" Bella sighed, snuggling closer into Emmett's cold hard body.

"No." Emmett shook his head. "I'm sorry, Bella."

Bella lapsed back into silence after their conversation but Emmett was glad that the tears seemed to have stopped. As they approached the Swan house, Emmett could hear people in the woods nearby and lots of shouting taking place. It took a couple of seconds for Emmett to realise they were looking for Bella, Charlie must have gotten worried when she had been gone for so long.

Emmett picked up his pace and a few minutes later he was emerging from the trees behind Bella's house, Bella tucked safely in his arms.

"Bells, what happened?" Charlie asked, sprinting across the lawn as soon as he spotted his missing daughter in Emmett's arms.

"She's fine, just a bit shaken." Emmett said. "She just got slightly lost in the woods."

"Are you sure? She looks upset." Charlie said, stroking Bella's hair back from her face.

"I'm fine, Dad. Just a bit cold." Bella said softly.

"I'll take her inside, Chief Swan. You should call off the search party." Emmett indicated the mass of people still calling for Bella in the woods.

"Thank you." Charlie said, before he turned and headed back to the edge of the woods.

Emmett carried Bella into the front room and laid her down on the sofa. Grabbing a throw from the back of the sofa he placed it over Bella to warm her up.

"Thanks, Em." Bella smiled weakly up at Emmett from her position on the sofa.

"It was nothing." Emmett shrugged.

"It certainly wasn't nothing." Charlie said from the doorway. "If it wasn't for you Bella would still be wandering those woods and anything could have happened to her."

"It didn't and I'm perfectly safe." Bella said.

"Yes you are, but that still doesn't explain what you were doing in the woods in the first place. You know how dangerous it can be in there." Charlie said sternly as he entered the room and stood beside the sofa where Bella was lying.

"I went for a walk and got lost." Bella said.

"And the tear stained face and red eyes that indicate a lot of crying?" Charlie asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"I was upset, Edward broke up with me." Bella admitted. She knew Charlie didn't like her dating Edward so she was reluctant to admit to her dad he had been right about their relationship not lasting.

"That boy, when I get my hands on him." Charlie fumed, angry that he had upset Bella so much.

"He's gone." Emmett said, trying to calm Charlie down.

"Permanently?" Charlie asked, unable to keep the hopeful tone from his voice.

"For the foreseeable future." Emmett said, knowing Bella would understand that Alice didn't see Edward returning any time soon.

Bella did understand and she visibly slumped back against the cushions of the sofa, looking totally devastated at the news.

"Thank you once again." Charlie said, holding his hand out for Emmett to shake. "Sorry, I've forgotten your name."

"Emmett." Emmett said, shaking Charlie's hand carefully.

"Thank you, Emmett." Charlie said, trying not to be too obvious as he pulled his hand back sharply from the large man's could touch.

"You're welcome Chief Swan. We consider Bella family, even with Edward out of the picture and we'd do anything for her." Emmett said to Charlie even though he actually meant the words for Bella.

Charlie nodded unsure of what to say but Bella had a small smile on her face that thrilled Emmett.

"I should be off, now." Emmett said turning to Bella. "I'll come and see you tomorrow, and so will Alice probably."

Bella smiled at the thought of seeing her hyperactive best friend, a few hours ago she thought she would never see The Cullen's again but apart from Edward they were all still here for her.

"I'd like that." Bella smiled, standing up with the blanket still wrapped round her. "Bye, Emmett."

"Bye, Bella." Emmett gave Bella a quick hug and turned to leave the house. As he was shutting the door behind him he heard Bella tell Charlie she was off to bed for the night.

Emmett walked down the drive and into the street at a human pace as he could feel Charlie watching him from the window. He waited until he had turned a corner before entering the trees and running back home at vampire speed.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Alice was pacing the lawn in the back garden, trying to get her visions to focus and tell her what to do. Edward had just left and Alice didn't see him returning any time soon, he was going to wander around for the foreseeable future unable to settle as he regretted his actions. It wasn't Edward however that was Alice's problem, it was Bella and Emmett.

The first day Alice had met Bella she had had a vision of Bella as a vampire, a vision she had had numerous times since then. But the problem was whenever Alice saw Bella as a vampire she wasn't with Edward, she was with Emmett.

As a result of the visions Alice spent ages watching Bella and Emmett looking for any signs that there was something going on between them, but she never spotted anything untoward between the pair. Eventually Alice confided in Jasper about the visions and he confirmed that he had noticed a deep connection between Bella and Emmett. Jasper had told Alice that the connection had always been present but he didn't think that Bella and Emmett were even aware of their attraction to each other.

"Alice, are you alright Darlin'?" Jasper asked, pulling Alice out of her thoughts.

"No, I don't know what to do." Alice said, continuing to pace. "With Edward gone, I'm not sure if I should say anything about my visions."

"What are you going to say. Sorry Rose, I've had visions of Bella and Emmett together so if you wouldn't mind just handing him over to the human so they can get together." Jasper said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't be quite as blunt, Jazz." A cool voice said from behind the couple.

Alice and Jasper both turned to find Rose standing behind them, Carlisle and Esme standing behind her looking puzzled. Jasper cursed at the fact he had been concentrating so much on Alice he failed to notice Rose coming up behind him.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I never meant for you to hear that." Jasper said, wondering why his sister wasn't more upset at what she had heard.

"She already knows." Alice said quietly, looking at Rose oddly.

"Would someone please explain what's going on, I'm confused." Esme said. It had been a long day, first Edward had left now Alice was having visions about Emmett and Bella.

"Let's go inside and discuss things." Carlisle said, leading his family back into the house.

Everyone followed Carlisle back into the house and sat around the dining room table. No-one at the table actually needed to be seated it was just what happened whenever a discussion took place in the Cullen household.

"Alice, why don't you begin." Carlisle said.

"You all know that I've seen Bella as a vampire and living as part of our coven ever since we first met her." Alice said, and everyone nodded. "What I haven't told anyone but Jasper, is that in all my visions she's with Emmett, in a romantic sense."

"How is that possible?" Esme asked, looking at Rose trying to work out why she wasn't upset at the news that her mate was with someone else in Alice's visions.

"Is the family still together in your visions of Bella as a vampire?" Carlisle asked, not having an answer for his wife's question.

"Before today all the visions I've had of Bella as a vampire have being purely her and Emmett. But today as I've been thinking about what to do I've seen two different outcomes. In one we're all together, bar Edward. But in another the entire family is split up, every couple have gone their separate ways." Alice explained. "The trouble is I'm not sure which outcome is going to happen yet."

"Surely if we handle this right and talk about things we can avoid everyone separating." Carlisle said firmly, he wasn't happy with the idea of his family all going their separate ways.

As Alice and Jasper were agreeing with Carlisle, Esme turned to Rose who had yet to speak. "Are you okay, Rose?" She asked her eldest daughter.

"Yes, I'm fine." Rose said, with a twinge of sadness in her voice. "I suppose you're all wondering why I'm not mad about what Alice has seen."

"Just a bit." Jasper said, smiling at Rose. Rose smiled back at the vampire who was often referred to as her twin before she started speaking.

"Me and Emmett have always been aware that we're not true mates. We love each other and are mostly happy together but we both know our relationship doesn't work the same as your two, we don't have the same bond." Rose said, pointedly looking at the two couples who were sitting side by side in close proximity to their partners.

"But you two have always seemed so in tune with each other. I've lost count of the amount of rooms you've destroyed." Esme pointed out.

Rose chuckled slightly at Esme's observation. "Mind blowing sex doesn't mean we're true mates."

"Why haven't you said anything before?" Carlisle asked, shocked by Rose's revelation.

"There wasn't any point, me and Em both decided we were happy together and it wouldn't be an issue unless one of us found our real mate." Rose said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Why aren't you upset about it being Bella though, you hate her." Alice said.

"I don't hate Bella." Rose admitted, she knew her actions didn't back up that statement but it was true she really didn't hate the clumsy human. "I'm not her biggest fan but I don't hate her."

"How long have you known Emmett's meant to be with Bella? And how?" Jasper asked. He believed Rose when she said she didn't hate Bella as he had never felt that emotion from Rose regarding Bella.

"I've known since we met her. Jasper was right in the garden, there is an attraction between Emmett and Bella, it's just never been acted upon." Rose said.

"How did you know about it? Jasper only knows because he's an empath." Alice asked.

"Because I know Emmett better than I know myself. It's obvious the way he looks at her and the way he's so protective of her. The funny thing is I honestly don't think Em's got a clue how he really feels about her." Rose said with a sad smile.

The table lapsed into silence after Rose's speech as they all realised that despite all the years they had been together as a family there were still things going on that were private between people.

"What do we do now?" Esme asked, breaking the silence.

"When Emmett comes back, I'm going to suggest we go hunting for the weekend. I'll sort things with him and when we come back we'll no longer be together." Rose announced. No matter how hard it was going to be, Rose had made the decision to let Emmett go the minute Edward walked away from Bella.

"Do we tell Emmett and Bella about Alice's visions?" Jasper asked, unsure of what would happen next.

"No." Rose shook her head firmly. "Bella needs time to get over Edward leaving. If it's meant to be they'll sort things out themselves."

"It's meant to be." Alice whispered softly. She had witnessed the love between Bella and Emmett in her visions and knew that they would eventually get together.

"That's settled then, I think the best thing for everyone else to do is to act normally." Carlisle said, ending the meeting.

At Carlisle's words, everyone went their separate ways. Carlisle and Esme headed for a hunt so they could discuss what was happening without being overheard. Rosalie settled down in the front room to wait for Emmett to return so they could deal with their relationship. Alice dragged Jasper off to their room where she started making plans.

When Rose announced that she was taking Emmett away to end their relationship, Alice had a vision of Rose moving into Edward's old room. Alice had decided while her siblings were away she would transform Edward's room into a suitable place for Rose to stay while she would turn Emmett and Rose's old room into the perfect room for Emmett and eventually Emmett and Bella.


	3. Chapter 3

Bella awoke to the sound of rain splashing steadily off her window. Lying in bed listening to the rain it took Bella several moments before she remembered the devastating events of the previous day. Edward had left her, he had taken her into the woods where he had cruelly dumped her before running off and leaving her to stumble alone amongst the trees where she had gotten lost.

Bella shuddered to think what would have happened to her if it hadn't been for Emmett coming along and saving her. Bella smiled slightly at the thought of Emmett, when Edward told Bella his entire family had left and she would never see them again it was the thought of never seeing Emmett and Alice that had hurt the most. While Bella loved all the Cullen's it was Emmett and Alice she had bonded the easiest with and it was them she was looking forward to seeing today.

Bella lay in bed thinking about Edward and what he had done to her the previous day. Bella knew the vampire had broken her heart and it would take time to heal but she was surprised by the anger she felt towards Edward. It was one thing if he didn't want to be with her but he had tried to take his entire family away from her as well, a family she thought she had been part of. Luckily for Bella the rest of the family weren't as heartless as Edward and they still considered her worth knowing.

After lying in bed for several minutes Bella eventually got up and headed to the bathroom. After having a long shower Bella returned to her room to get dressed. Bella quickly threw on the first things she found when she opened her wardrobe, blue jeans and a light blue jumper.

Arriving in the kitchen to make some breakfast, Bella was surprised to find Charlie still in the house. It was after ten and normally her father left for work early in the morning.

"Why aren't you at work?" Bella asked as she poured herself some juice and made some cereal.

"I'm going now, I just wanted to check you were okay." Charlie said, standing up from his seat at the table.

"You didn't have to stay and check up on me." Bella said.

"I know, but I wouldn't have been able to concentrate until I saw you and made sure you were coping." Charlie said, looking uncomfortable. He wasn't great at dealing with emotions and had no idea what to say to Bella.

"I'm fine, you don't have to worry." Bella said, attempting a smile for Charlie.

Despite not being totally convinced by Bella's words Charlie picked up his jacket and put it on. After saying goodbye to Bella, Charlie left the house and headed to work.

Bella finished her breakfast and washed her dishes as she tried to decide how to spend her Saturday. Emmett had mentioned visiting her and he had also mentioned Alice, but while Bella was eager to see the two vampires she wasn't ready to go to their house. The thought of entering the house where she had always been thought of as Edward's mate didn't appeal to Bella. She decided she needed time to cope with Edward abandoning her before she returned to the Cullen house.

Since she had decided to avoid the Cullen house Bella settled down in the front room with her book. Hopefully Emmett and Alice would visit her over the course of the day.

It was nearly one o'clock before a persistent knocking on the front door interrupted Bella. Bella put down her book and headed for the front door fully expecting Alice to be on the other side, after all who else would just continually knock on the door instead of just knocking once. As soon as the door was open Bella found herself in the cold, hard embrace of Alice.

"Bella, I'm so sorry for what happened." Alice said, still hugging Bella tightly.

"Alice, I can't breathe." Bella gasped, trying to pull away from the tiny vampire.

"Sorry." Alice said, immediately releasing Bella from her grip.

"I'm so pleased you're here, I thought I was never going to see any of you again." Bella said, heading back into the front room and sitting on the sofa.

"That'll never happen, you're family Bella." Alice replied, sitting next to Bella on the sofa.

The two sat in silence for several seconds before Bella had the courage to ask a question that had occurred to her last night when she was lying in bed unable to sleep.

"Alice, did you know what he was planning to do?" Bella asked, knowing Alice would know exactly who she was talking about.

"Not until it was too late. I knew seconds before he told us he wanted to leave." Alice said.

"So you never saw what he planned on saying to me?" Bella said. She had been worried that Alice had seen how cruel Edward was going to be with her and had chosen not to warn her.

"No, what did he say?" Alice asked curiously. Emmett had informed the family about the state he had found Bella in but he had had no idea what exactly their brother had said to her.

"He told me that he never loved me, that I was just a toy for him and that he had gotten bored and it was time to move on." Bella said softly. Repeating the vicious words to Alice caused Bella fresh pain as she relived the memory of Edward leaving her.

"I'm sorry Bella." Alice said, wrapping her arm around Bella. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Then why say it?" Bella questioned. She wanted to believe Alice but Edward's words had just confirmed the nagging doubts she had constantly had about their relationship.

"Because he's an idiot. His original plan was for the whole family to leave with him so you would never see him again. I think he was trying to make you hate him so you could move on with your life." Alice said. She wanted to defend Edward's behaviour so that Bella didn't hate him as she was hopeful that one day he would be a part of their family again.

"I could have moved on with my life without him being so hurtful." Bella huffed. "It's not like I'm falling apart without him."

"No you're not and that's great." Alice said. She knew the reason Bella wasn't falling apart and suffering more was because she wasn't meant to be with Edward.

"Is it? Even though I'm upset and hurt with him leaving, I can still function. I always thought without him I would fall apart and my life would be over." Bella admitted. She had been confused that while she missed Edward and thinking about him was painful she could still think about other things.

"That's a bit dramatic Bella." Alice said, rolling her eyes at the brunette human sitting beside her. "It's far healthier to be able to grieve for your past relationship and move on than to sit around for months wallowing in misery."

"I don't know about moving on, Alice. As stupid as it sounds I keep hoping he'll realise he's made a mistake and return for me." Bella said quietly.

"He's not coming back Bella, at least not anytime in the near future." Alice said.

Alice didn't want to hurt Bella but she wanted her to be clear that her relationship with Edward was over. Bella would never move on with Emmett if she thought that she still stood a chance with Edward. Despite the family agreeing to leave Bella and Emmett to get together in their own time Alice was planning on doing whatever she could to hurry the couple up and bring them together faster.

"I know, Emmett told me that last night." Bella said.

Alice noticed the way that Bella smiled slightly and her eyes lit up at the mention of Emmett. Alice was pretty sure that Bella wasn't even aware of the subconscious reaction she had towards Emmett.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Alice suddenly said ,pulling on Bella's hand to make her stand up.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked, trying to pull her hand from Alice's firm grip.

"Shopping." Alice grinned. "Then I thought we could go back to mine and watch some films as the house will be practically empty."

"Where's everyone else?" Bella asked.

"Carlisle and Esme are going into Seattle for the night, they're going to see a play that Esme's eager to see. Rose and Emmett have gone hunting for the weekend." Alice explained.

"What about Jasper?" Bella asked. She tried to ignore the disappointment she felt at the mention of Emmett being gone and the fact she wouldn't be seeing him over the weekend.

"He'll be there, as long as it's okay with you, if not he said he can disappear for a few hours. He feels terrible about what happened." Alice said.

"I don't blame Jasper for anything that happened, it wasn't his fault." Bella said. She was appalled at the idea of Jasper thinking he had to leave his own house when she was there. "I don't want him to go on my account."

"Good, that's settled then, movies at our house." Alice said, pulling Bella towards the door.

"Actually Alice would it be possible to stay here tonight." Bella said. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back to your house yet, there's too many memories there."

"I'm sorry Bella, I never thought. Of course we can watch films here." Alice said. She was annoyed that she hadn't considered the possibility of Bella being uncomfortable in the house. "Won't Charlie be here, though?" She asked as Bella stopped by the door to put on her shoes.

"He's going to go and watch some sort of football match with Billy tonight." Bella explained as she stuck her wallet in her pocket.

"Okay, let's go." Alice said, getting impatient.

"What's the rush?" Bella asked as they left the house and headed for Alice's car.

"No rush." Alice shrugged. After Bella's comment about being uncomfortable in the Cullen house Alice was eager to get started on the re-decorating of the bedrooms so there wasn't a constant reminder of Edward's absence.

As Alice drove ridiculously fast into Port Angeles she kept up a constant chatter about anything and everything so that Bella didn't end up thinking about Edward and dwelling on his departure. When they arrived in the nearby town Bella was surprised when Alice didn't drag her into numerous clothes shops, forcing her to try on things she wasn't comfortable in.

"What exactly are you shopping for?" Bella asked, as the pair of them wandered around a store that sold furniture and housewares.

"I thought I would re-decorate a few rooms over the weekend." Alice said, adding a pale purple cushion to her basket.

"I thought Esme did the decorating." Bella said, following Alice along the aisles.

"She does, I'm just helping." Alice said. Esme was currently at home packing up Edward's belongings and working out what new furniture was needed in the two bedrooms.

Bella didn't question Alice anymore and just watched as the vampire bought an odd array of items. From what she was buying Bella decided that Alice was re-decorating bedrooms but she seemed to be buying things in two different styles. One style was very elegant with everything in light feminine colours and designs while the other style was plain and simple with the primary colour scheme seeming to be blue. Bella was thoroughly confused as to which rooms Alice was decorating as the feminine décor wasn't something she imagined the three male vampires in the family being comfortable with having in their room and it clearly didn't go with the rest of the stuff Alice was buying.

After nearly three hours, in which Alice had bought bags full of stuff and ordered more to be delivered to the house later that afternoon, the two girls headed back home. Alice dropped Bella off at her house with a promise to return later with Jasper.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Jasper and Alice arrived at Bella's house just before half seven with a pile of movies and some popcorn for Bella. Bella hadn't bothered preparing any films as she knew that Alice liked to pick what to watch as she had very particular tastes, mainly romantic films. Bella preferred dramas or even action films but Alice refused to watch anything other than romances.

When Alice and Jasper arrived at Bella's Alice gave her a hug and rushed off to set up the first film, leaving Bella and Jasper alone for a few minutes.

"Bella, I'm really sorry. I would never deliberately try to hurt you, I just couldn't help myself." Jasper said. He felt terrible for what had happened at Bella's party and the subsequent fallout.

"It's alright, I know you wouldn't try to hurt to hurt me on purpose." Bella said, smiling at Jasper. "Can we just forget about it?"

"Sure." Jasper said, the corner of his mouth lifting in a half smile.

When Bella and Jasper turned to enter the front room they found Alice standing watching them with a large grin on her face. Alice had high hopes of getting her husband and best friend to become good friends, she was hoping that if Jasper spent time around Bella he would find it easier to control his bloodlust as he would become more used to her scent.

"What did you bring?" Bella asked, walking past a smirking Alice towards a stack of DVD's on the coffee table.

Bella flicked through the mass of chick flicks and romantic weepies looking for something with a bit of action or drama to at least make the slushiness bearable. Not finding much to impress her Bella curled up on the chair and waited to see what Alice would put in first.

Alice and Jasper curled up together on the sofa and Alice started the first film, Dirty Dancing. Bella didn't mind the film but she actually found herself watching Alice and Jasper out of the corner of her eye.

Bella watched as throughout the whole film Jasper nuzzled Alice's neck, occasionally whispering something in her ear. Alice kept her eyes focused on the TV but she held Jasper's hand the entire time, tracing patterns on it with her fingers. Bella couldn't help but envy the fact that Alice and Jasper were so in love and so in sync with each other, sometimes it seemed like they lived in their own little world.

As the night progressed Bella stopped watching Alice and Jasper as she was finding it painful to witness how close they were. As much as Bella was missing Edward and wished he was with her, she knew that they didn't have the same connection as Alice and Jasper had. Edward would have been distinctly uncomfortable if she was as close to him as Alice was to Jasper. Bella knew it was different because she was a human but she had always felt there was another reason apart from her blood that Edward held her at arm's length. She always felt that Edward wasn't physically attracted to her, that it was her blood and silent mind that held the attraction for the vampire.

After three films Alice and Jasper headed home while Bella went to bed. There was still no sign of Charlie but Bella knew he would be home long before morning. Bella actually heard her father arrive home less than half an hour after she crawled into bed. Lying in the darkness Bella listened as Charlie went to bed and was snoring soundly a few minutes later.

Bella spent hours trying to get to sleep. Her mind wouldn't shut off and she kept wondering why she wasn't more distressed by Edward's departure. Thinking of her vampire ex made her heart ache but it wasn't nearly as crushing as yesterday when Edward had left her in the woods. Bella eventually drifted off to sleep, images of Edward and the things they had done together clouding her mind.

* * *

**A/N - The next chapter will be Emmett and Rose while they are away hunting and what happens between them.**


	4. Chapter 4

Emmett finished draining the grizzly bear and stood up to examine any damage to his clothes. Apart from a couple of small tears on his shirt he was completely clean and intact. Emmett was pretty impressed that he managed to stay so neat and tidy, it wasn't unusual for him to play with his food so much that his entire outfit would be ruined.

Deciding he had had enough of hunting for the afternoon Emmett began to make his way back to the cabin in which him and Rose were staying. When Rose had initially suggested hunting in Canada for the weekend Emmett had being unsure because he had promised Bella he would visit her. When Alice had reassured Emmett that she would be spending time with Bella Emmett had relented and agreed to spend the weekend with Rose.

Normally a weekend hunting in Canada with Rose equalled hunting plenty of grizzlies and engaging in multiple bouts of hot sex. Emmett knew immediately that there was something bothering Rose and that neither the hunting or the sex would be on the agenda. So far Rose had remained silent about what was bothering her and any hunting Emmett had done had been solo efforts to stop the boredom creeping into the weekend.

Emmett entered the Cullen's hunting cabin to find Rosalie sitting in the middle of the large bed. The cabin was pretty basic with a fireplace, a fully stocked bookshelf and a few chairs to sit on. The only luxury being the king size bed that was standing against the back wall.

The cabin was only used when a couple wanted to spend the weekend alone together. Emmett had lost count of the times him and Rose had come up to the cabin and then they had had to fix the damage they had caused with their ferocious sex life. Emmett also knew that Alice and Jasper and Carlisle and Esme had also fixed the cabin numerous times after their own visits.

Emmett stood in the doorway wondering if he should ask Rose what was bothering her when she looked up and spoke.

"We need to talk, Em."

"What about?" Emmett asked as he closed the door behind him.

"Us." Rose said. Emmett saw her visibly steel herself and he knew what was coming next wasn't good news. "It's time we called it a day."

"Why?" Emmett asked, sitting down an a nearby chair in shock. He knew that him and Rose weren't true mates but they had always been happy together. "Have you met someone?"

"No. I just think it's time we separated." Rose said. It was going to be harder than she thought to break up with Emmett without mentioning the real reason why.

"This doesn't make sense, Rose." Emmett said. "If you haven't met somebody then why do you want to split now?"

"I just think that as long as we're together neither of us will ever find our true mate." Rose said.

"That's crap." Emmett said getting annoyed, he could tell that there was something Rose wasn't telling him. "It's never bothered you before."

"Well it does now." Rose said, standing up from the bed with immense grace. "Neither of us can be truly happy if we're together."

"So now I make you miserable. Thanks Rose." Emmett said, his voice laced with sadness.

"I didn't mean it like that, Em." Rose said. "You've always made me really happy. I just feel the time has come for us to try and find our real mates."

"Does Edward leaving have anything to do with this sudden decision of yours?" Emmett asked.

Rose froze in panic for a minute before she detected the jealous tone in Emmett's voice. Emmett had always been insecure about the fact that Carlisle had turned her in the hope that she and Edwards would become mates. It didn't help that Emmett knew how hard Rose had tried to get Edward to want her in the early days of her immortal life.

"No." Rose said firmly. "I've told you before I'm not interested in Edward like that, he's my brother."

"Like I'll be for now on." Emmett said bitterly.

"You'll never be my brother, Em." Rose said, moving so she was squatting down in front of where Emmett was sitting. "I love you differently than the way I love Edward and Jasper."

"But you don't love me enough to stay with me."

"No, I love you enough to let you go." Rose said. She hated seeing Emmett so broken and was very tempted to change her mind but the thought that he belonged with Bella wouldn't leave her mind.

"So this is it, we're finished." Emmett said, raising his head and looking at Rose.

"Yes." Rose nodded sadly.

"Do I get a goodbye kiss?" Emmett asked, a trace of his usual cheekiness in his voice.

Rose smiled and leant forward to gently press her lips against Emmett's. The moment their lips touched Emmett deepened the kiss and pulled Rose closer to him. Rose moaned softly as Emmett's tongue caressed hers, while his large hands tangled in her hair. Eventually Emmett pulled back from the kiss leaving Rose panting even though she didn't need the air.

"Now that was a goodbye kiss." Emmett said, a sad smile on his face.

Rose smiled back just as sadly, the kiss had brought into focus exactly what she was giving up. Not only was Emmett a great person who loved her despite her many flaws and her slightly bitchy nature but he was an amazing kisser and a phenomenal lover.

The only thing keeping her from telling Emmet she had changed her mind about leaving him was the fact he would be happier with Bella. While Rose wasn't Bella's biggest fan she would happily stand aside and watch her get together with Emmett if it made him happy. For all of Rose's fault's she loved Emmett and would do whatever it took to make him happy.

"I'm going to go hunting." Rose said, heading for the door. "We can head home when I return."

Emmett nodded and watched as Rose walked out of the cabin. Left alone he contemplated what had just happened. For all of Rose's arguments that them splitting up was for the best Emmett could sense how reluctant she actually was to end their relationship. There was defiantly something else going on, something that Rose wasn't telling him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

By the time Emmett and Rose arrived back in Forks, Emmett still hadn't figured out what Rose was keeping from him. In fact Emmett was beginning to think he was imagining things as since she had returned from her hunt there was no trace of indecisiveness about Rose.

When they entered the house the entire family was gathered in the front room, a sombre atmosphere evident. There were times that Emmett really hated the fact that Alice was a psychic. There were some things that shouldn't be seen in visions and shared with the rest of the family, Emmett thought the end of his and Rose's relationship was one of those things.

"I suppose you all know what happened." Emmett said to the assembled family.

"Yes. We're sorry, Emmett." Esme said, hugging Emmett for a minute before she turned to Rose and hugged the blonde as well.

"Since you all know what happened, can we not talk about it." Emmett said.

"Whatever you want, son." Carlisle said from over the other side of the room.

"Can I say one thing first?" Alice asked, looking at Emmet for permission to speak. The large vampire briefly nodded, knowing it was easier to let Alice say whatever was on her mind. "Me and Esme have taken the liberty of rearranging your rooms. We've moved Rose into Edward's old room and I've redecorated your old room for you, Emmett."

"Thank you, Alice." Rose said. She was relieved that she didn't have to face sorting her stuff and moving out of the room she had shared with Emmett.

"Thanks." Emmett grunted. He wasn't particularly thrilled with Alice and Esme moving Rose out of his life so soon but he understood that they were only trying to make things easier for him.

"Come on Rose, I need to see what you think." Alice said, rushing over to Rose and practically dragging her up the stairs.

Emmett watched Alice and Rose head up the stairs before he turned back to the front room. Jasper and Carlisle had both turned their attention back to the basketball game that was on the TV but Esme was still standing watching Emmett.

"Do you want to talk?" Esme asked.

"I'm not sure what there is to talk about. Rose has made her decision." Emmett said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm here if you ever do need to talk." Esme said, smiling softly at Emmett who looked slightly shell shocked by the weekend's events. "I'm sure everything will work out fine."

Emmett watched as Esme went to sit next to Carlisle, her words echoing in his mind. Once again he was left with the feeling that someone knew more than they were telling him, only this time it was Esme not Rose.

"I'm going to check out my room." Emmett said as he turned and headed upstairs. He needed time to think as he was either becoming paranoid or there was something part if not all of his family was hiding from him.

Emmett was quite impressed when he entered his new look room. Alice and Esme had refrained from turning the room into a space that was obviously occupied by a single guy. Emmett was relieved to see his wide screen television was still mounted on the wall and his large collection of video games and action films were neatly arranged on the bookshelf. Emmett also noticed he had a new bed, not just fresh sheets and covers to match the rooms new colour scheme. The bed looked to be made from some sort of dark and sturdy wood while the new covers were plain blue, a slightly deeper shade than the walls.

Emmett sat down on the bed while he contemplated the fact he was now alone. It was slightly easier for him to accept it seeing the room free of Rose's belonging's and the multiple girly touches she had insisted on putting in their room.

Emmett kicked off his shoes and lay back on the bed. One thing he wouldn't miss was Rose constantly nagging him for leaving his clothes and shoes lying around the room. If Rose had been there now she would have insisted Emmett pick up his trainers that were lying haphazardly at the bottom of the bed.

Emmett lay looking up at the ceiling for quite a while. He originally started off thinking about Rose and all the good times they had shared over the years as a way to help him get over her and move on. On the way home Emmett had briefly contemplated if there was anything he could do to win Rose back, but seeing as she was so determined to end their relationship Emmett had decided it was best for him to accept it and move on with his life.

Eventually Emmett's mind drifted to Bella and whether she was alright. When him and Rose had come home earlier they had been so caught up in their own drama he had completely forgotten to check with Alice if she was alright. Emmett could still hear Alice talking quietly with Rose so he decided he would go and see Bella for himself.

Emmett had gotten off the bed and put on his trainers before the clock caught his eye. Emmett saw the time and looked out the window at the dark night sky, cursing silently to himself. It was well past midnight and Emmett didn't want to disturb Bella when she had to be up for school the following morning.

Emmett briefly considered still dropping by Bella's and checking up on her but he disliked the idea of spying on her while she was asleep. Emmett had always thought it was creepy the way Edward would sneak into Bella's room and watch her sleep before they had gotten together. Deciding to wait until the following day to see Bella, Emmett kicked off his shoes and chose a DVD to watch.

As Emmett lay on his bed watching his film he kept listening for Alice to leave Rose so he could ask her about Bella. As soon as he heard Alice pass by his room he called out to her.

"Hey, Em." Alice chirped as she entered the room. "Do you like your room?"

"Yeah it's great, thanks." Emmett smiled at Alice. He had originally been annoyed that her and Esme had moved Rose out of the room in their absence but he could now see it had made the transition easier to handle. "How was Bella this weekend?"

"A lot better than I thought." Alice said, sitting on the end of Emmett's bed. "I think she's starting to realise her and Edward weren't meant to be."

"Took her long enough." Emmett muttered. "For someone so smart she was remarkably dim when it came to Edward."

Emmett had never felt that Edward and Bella were suited to one another. Edward was so serious and straight laced whereas Bella was easy going and fun loving, whenever Edward let her out of his sight that was. The only person Emmett had shared these thoughts with was Rose and he suddenly looked worried as he remembered how much Alice seemed to have supported Edward and Bella's relationship.

"Don't look so worried." Alice laughed at Emmett's panicked expression. "I feel the same way about Edward and Bella. While I love them both, they weren't suited as a couple."

"I thought you supported their relationship." Emmett said.

"I supported them being happy. But I always knew they weren't the real deal." Alice said. Despite wanting to tell Emmett everything she knew Alice refrained from saying too much, instead just making sure that her brother knew that Bella didn't belong with Edward.

"I thought you had seen Bella as a vampire and part of our family." Emmett said, surprised by Alice's revelation.

"I have seen her as a vampire, that will definitely happen." Alice said, standing up. "And she's already part of our family."

Alice gave Emmett a warm smile before she left the room, leaving Emmett to think about the things she had just revealed to him.

Emmett changed the film and sat back on the bed, Alice's words running round his head. He wondered why she had never mentioned Bella and Edward not being the real thing before now. Emmett decided the reason Alice had never mentioned it before was probably Edward and his reaction, which would most likely have been explosive. Edward's possible explosive reaction was also the reason that Emmett had never thought about how his brother and Bella weren't suited to each other around Edward. Emmett hadn't wanted to cause problems in his family so he had kept the thought's out of his mind whenever Edward was around.

Emmett wondered if Alice had shared her knowledge with anyone else in the family. Obviously she would have told Jasper as she told her husband everything, but Emmett couldn't help but wonder if she had told everyone else and how they had reacted to the news that Edward and Bella weren't meant to be together.


	5. Chapter 5

When her alarm sounded on Monday morning Bella reluctantly got up and began getting ready for school. She was dreading the day ahead as she knew the entire day would consist of people asking her awkward questions and gossiping about her.

On Friday everything had been perfect with Bella's life, it was her birthday and she had had Edward by her side. Now three days later Edward had abandoned her and she would have to explain his sudden absence to the rest of the school. While Bella was actually coming to terms with Edward's departure far better than she had ever thought possible she still didn't like to speak about him or his sudden exit from her life.

Arriving in the kitchen for breakfast Bella found Charlie preparing to leave for work. Bella got herself some cereal and juice before sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Do you have plans for the weekend?" Charlie asked as he pulled on his jacket.

"No, it's only Monday morning. Why?" Bella was puzzled by Charlie's question as he never usually pried into her life.

"I'm going fishing with Billy this weekend. I just thought you might like to come up to the reservation with me. Jacob would love to see you."

"Is this your subtle way of telling me I need friends that aren't Cullen's?" Bella asked. More than once Charlie had tried to encourage her to spend less time with the Cullen's and more time with some other people.

"No, it's not actually. I just thought it would make a nice change." Charlie said. "Besides you know I like Alice and the big one who brought you home on Friday night seemed nice enough."

"Emmett."

"Yes, him." Charlie nodded.

"So you have no problems with me being friends with the Cullen's, it was just Edward you didn't like." Bella said, finally realising what Charlie's problem had been all this time.

"I'm sorry, Bells. I know you liked him but there was just something about him I didn't like." Charlie said.

"It's okay. Maybe you were right about him all along." Bella said with a shrug. A few weeks ago she would have been hurt if Charlie had admitted his disliked Edward but now Bella found she wasn't really bothered by it.

"Maybe, but I never wanted you to get hurt." Charlie said. "I have to go, think about this weekend. Bye."

"I will." Bella called after Charlie as he left the house.

After Bella had finished her breakfast she put her dishes in the sink and headed out the front door to her truck. The closer Bella got to school the more anxious she felt about the upcoming day.

When she pulled into the school's parking lot a few minutes later Bella sat watching the milling students for a few minutes. She was so distracted that she failed to notice Alice approaching the truck until the small vampire pulled open her door.

"Are you planning on sitting there all day, Bella?" Alice asked.

"No, I'm coming." Bella sighed, picking up her bag and getting out of her truck.

"Are you alright?" Alice asked as she watched Bella look around the parking lot nervously.

"I'm not exactly looking forward to all the questions I'm going to get asked regarding Edward's disappearance." Bella admitted.

Alice smiled softly as Bella spoke Edward's name for the first time since he had left on Friday night. "Come on, I know exactly how to stop people questioning you." She said, pulling on Bella's hand.

"Where are we going?" Bella asked as Alice led her in the opposite direction then her first period English lesson.

Alice didn't respond, instead she carried on walking, heading towards a small group of people. Bella groaned when she spotted who Alice was walking towards. Alice was leading them towards a small group of students who Bella was semi-friendly with. Bella's favourite person in the group was Angela Webber but she wasn't really keen on the gossipy Jessica Stanley or the over flirty Mike Newton.

"Hello, Jessica. Nice top." Alice said with a bright smile as they arrived at the group.

"Thanks." Jessica said, shocked that Alice had spoken to her.

"Come on Bella, I'll walk you to your first class since you're all alone now." Alice said, walking past the group after she had caught Jessica's attention.

"What was that about?" Bella hissed at Alice. "And why are we circling the school to get back to my first lesson, when we could have gone directly there?"

"Because now Jessica will follow us and if you tell her about Edward the whole school will know in five minutes and you don't have to answer the same question a million times today." Alice said, seconds before they heard Jessica's voice behind them.

"Bella wait up, I'll walk with you."

"If Jessica is walking with you, I can go to my first class." Alice said innocently. "Will you be alright Bella?"

"I'll be fine." Bella said, glaring at Alice and her devious ways.

"See you at lunch." Alice called as she sauntered away from the two human girls.

"That was weird even for Alice." Jessica commented as the vampire disappeared around a corner. "Where's Edward?" She asked casually, desperate to know where the handsome Cullen that usually hung around Bella was.

"He's left." Bella said as they headed for class.

"How long for?" Jessica asked, assuming he had gone away for a few days.

"Forever." Bella said. "He finished with me and then took off."

"You mean he just left his entire family behind." Jessica exclaimed. "Harsh."

"Yeah. Look Jessica I really don't want to talk about it." Bella said as they arrived at their English classroom.

"I completely understand." Jessica said sympathetically. "My lips are sealed."

"Thanks Jessica." Bella said.

"Don't worry about it, I'll make sure no-one bothers you." Jessica said, rushing off to her seat.

As Bella took her own seat she saw Jessica speaking quietly to the girl next to her and from the sly looks they kept shooting her way they were talking about her. As Bella turned to face the front of the class she couldn't help but realise that Alice's plan could potentially work. By lunchtime the whole school would know about Edward leaving and Jessica would make it known that she was the one that Bella had confided in, so she would be the one to go to for any additional gossip.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"Admit it, my idea was brilliant. You weren't bothered all day." Alice said smiling. Classes had just finished for the day and Alice and Bella were walking toward the parking lot.

"Fine I admit it, telling Jessica was a good way to keep people of my back." Bella sighed. "Although you didn't have to be so devious about it."

"Of course I did." Alice said, defending herself. "If I had suggested telling Jessica about Edward you would have dismissed the idea. This way we piqued her interest and she approached you."

Bella mumbled an agreement, knowing that Alice was spot on. Bella would have refused to tell Jessica outright without Alice's interfering. As it was she had gone the entire day with no-one asking about Edward and his absence.

"There's Jasper, I'll see you tomorrow Bella." Alice said as they entered the parking lot.

"See you tomorrow, Alice." Bella said, watching as the tiny vampire flew across the parking lot and flung herself into Jasper's arms.

Bella got into her own truck and waved as Alice and Jasper sped out of the parking lot. Instead of going straight home Bella called at the store to pick up something for dinner before she turned the truck towards her house.

When Bella turned onto her street she was surprised to see Emmett's jeep parked outside her house. And when she pulled into the drive Bella was thrilled to find Emmett sitting on the front porch. Bella had barely parked when Emmett was beside the truck, opening the door.

"Hi, Em. What are you doing here?" Bella asked.

"I thought I'd come visit you since I couldn't come over the weekend." Emmett said. "I can go if you want." He offered, not wanting Bella to think he was imposing on her.

"No, stay." Bella said, gathering the shopping bags and hopping out of her truck.

"I'll take those." Emmett relieved Bella of the bags and followed her into the house.

Once in the kitchen Emmett placed the bags on the counter and Bella started emptying them as she began to organise the lasagne for dinner.

"How was your weekend away?" Bella asked as she put the shopping away.

"Not great. Rose and I split up." Emmett said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I had no idea." Bella said, turning to face Emmett is shock. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live." Emmett said, smiling at Bella. "I always knew it would happen one day."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked confused.

While Emmett explained his complicated relationship with Rose to Bella she began making dinner for herself and Charlie.

"Wow, I had no idea you and Rose weren't real mates. You always seemed so happy together." Bella said once Emmett had finished talking.

"We were mostly." Emmett shrugged. "But now it's over and I have to move on."

"Join the club." Bella muttered.

"Look on the bright side, we can moan to each other about our disastrous love lives." Emmett said.

Bella laughed, it was typical of Emmett to try and see the positive side in things. As Bella continued to make dinner she and Emmett talked about the rest of Emmett's weekend and how the rest of the family had taken the surprising news. When Bella put the lasagne in the oven her and Emmett headed into the front room where he told her about his newly decorated bedroom.

"So that's why Alice wouldn't tell me which rooms she was decorating." Bella said, explaining to Emmett about her shopping trip with Alice on Saturday afternoon. "If she redecorated your room for you, where's Rosalie moved to?" Bella asked, suddenly realising she hadn't heard Emmett mention the location of Rosalie's new bedroom.

"Edward's old room." Emmett said carefully, not wanting to upset Bella by mentioning his brother. "I'm sure if that's a problem then Alice and Esme can return it to normal and Rose can use another room."

"It's not a problem. Actually it might make visiting the house easier." Bella admitted, feeling bad that Rose taking over Edward's room was something she was happy about.

"Alice mentioned you were putting off visiting the house." Emmett said.

"Just a bit." Bella shrugged. "I'm sure I'll go back eventually."

"Don't worry, I'll drag you there if you don't come and visit us soon." Emmett said.

"You wouldn't." Bella said smiling, even though she knew that Emmett would have no qualms about physically taking her to the Cullen house despite her protests.

"Try me." Emmett grinned evilly. Bella smiled back at Emmett before she briefly went to check on dinner.

"I need to start my homework." Bella said, grabbing her bag from where it was sitting beside the sofa as she returned to the room.

"What are you working on?" Emmett asked.

"I've got an English assignment to write and a history test to study for." Bella said, grimacing at the thought of the upcoming history test. The English assignment was no problem as she loved the subject but she really hated history and remembering dates.

"I can help you with your history if you want." Emmett offered, knowing how much Bella despised the topic.

"Thanks Em, that would be great." Bella said. "I want to work on my English assignment first though, so you can watch the TV while I study."

"Sure." Emmett said, putting the television on and flipping around until he found something worth watching.

For the next hour Emmett watched the television while Bella started to write her English assignment. After stopping briefly for dinner Bella pulled out her history book and Emmett began to help her with the work. Bella and Emmett were still sitting on the sofa studying when Charlie entered the house nearly two hours later.

"Hi, Bells. I'm not staying long, there's a load of guys off work ill so I'm heading back after I've eaten." Charlie said as he entered the room.

"Fine, your dinner's in the oven." Bella said.

"Thanks, don't stay up too late studying." Charlie said as he headed into the kitchen.

"I think that's my cue to leave." Emmett said quietly once Charlie had left the room.

"But we haven't finished studying, I'm still useless." Bella moaned. "You have to stay."

"How about I go and hunt for a bit and I'll come back in an hour or two after Charlie's gone back to work." Emmett suggested.

"Fine." Bella said, pleased Emmett was coming back. "I'll probably be in my room by then."

"Okay." Emmett said, standing up. "I'll be off now Bella, bye. Bye, Chief Swan." Emmett said, raising his voice to normal volume.

"Bye, Emmett." Bella said, rolling her eyes at Emmett's blatant attempt at sucking up to her father.

After Emmett had left Bella gathered up her books and put them back into her bag. Poking her head round the kitchen door she told Charlie she was heading upstairs for the night.

Once upstairs Bella dumped her bag and decided to have a shower before Emmett returned. Just before she stepped into the shower Charlie called up the stairs to say he was going. After her shower Bella changed into comfortable sweats and a t-shirt before she found her history book and started to study again.

Bella had been studying for half an hour before she threw the book onto the bed. Nothing in the book seemed to be registering with her so she decided to go and get a drink. After grabbing a glass of juice Bella returned to her room, jumping in shock when she found Emmett sitting on her bed.

"Do you have to creep about like that?" Bella said as she recovered from the shock. "Can't you make a little bit of noise when you're moving around."

Emmett didn't respond, instead he merely laughed at Bella. Bella tutted at Emmett and moved to sit on the bed beside him. Bella picked up her history book and settled with her back resting against the headboard right next to where Emmett was sitting.

"Are you going to open the book or just look at it?" Emmett asked when Bella just sat with the book on her knee.

"How about I throw it out the window." Bella muttered. "I hate history."

"It's not that bad." Emmett chuckled, grabbing the book out of Bella's hands.

"Says the vampire that's being repeating school for decades." Bella said. "Of course it probably helps that you were around for most of these events."

"How old do you think I am?" Emmett asked, sounding offended. "I'm the baby of the family."

Bella laughed at the idea of Emmett being considered the baby of the family. She knew technically it was true and that he had been a vampire for the shortest length of time amongst his family.

"It's not funny Bella." Emmett said, trying not to laugh himself. He was pleased to see Bella so carefree after what had happened to her a few nights ago.

"It is." Bella said as she continued to laugh.

"If you're going to insist on laughing at me, I'll have to punish you." Emmett said.

"How?" Bella asked, calming down slightly.

Emmett grinned evilly before he pounced, grabbing Bella and tickling her sides. Bella immediately started laughing again as Emmett found a sensitive spot on her right side.

"I'll stop when you apologise for laughing at me." Emmett said, continuing to tickle Bella.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry for laughing at you." Bella gasped out as she wriggled around trying to escape from Emmett's grasp.

Emmett stopped tickling Bella and she lay still for a while calming herself before she opened her eyes that had closed as she was laughing. When Bella opened her eyes she found herself staring into Emmett's golden eyes. In amongst all the tickling she had somehow ended up lying under Emmett.

Bella and Emmett lay staring at each other for several minutes, all the previous laughter gone as they both felt something for the other one they had never felt before, lust. Bella could feel her heart beating rapidly at Emmett's close proximity and she found her gaze drawn to his lips, thoughts of what it would be like to have them touch her skin floating through her head.

Emmett meanwhile was contemplating how amazing it felt to have Bella's warm body underneath him. He was filled with an overwhelming urge to kiss the beautiful girl lying below him but he really wasn't sure what Bella's reaction would be. Emmett could hear her heart beating rapidly but he wasn't sure if it was in arousal or panic.

"We should start your studying." Emmett finally said quietly.

Bella nodded in response, not trusting her voice. She was bitterly disappointed when Emmett moved off her and casually picked up the history book and began to find the right page. Bella had been convinced that Emmett had felt the attraction between them but she was now wondering if she had just imagined it as he seemed his normal self again.

For the next hour Bella tried her hardest to concentrate as her and Emmett studied but she was finding Emmett's presence distracting. Bella kept sneaking looks at Emmett wondering if he had been affected by their moment together at all, but Bella saw no sign of anything different in the vampire.

When Emmett finally left her room shortly before midnight Bella threw her books to the floor and flopped back onto her bed, her mind swimming with confusion. Like it or not Bella knew she had ended up becoming massively attracted to Emmett. While it had obviously started when his cold, hard body was lying on top of her she found it hadn't disappeared as the night progressed, instead it only got worse.

Bella knew she would remember nothing they had studied tonight as all she could think about was Emmett and what she would like him to do to her. Bella blushed at her thoughts, all the time she had been with Edward she had never really thought about him in a sexual way but with Emmett her mind seemed to go into overdrive as she pictured them together.

Bella got off the bed and headed to the bathroom. When she returned she got ready for bed, turned off the light and crawled under the covers. Bella lay in the dark, trying to forget the attraction she felt for Emmett. The fact that she could still smell his musky scent on her bed made it even harder as if she closed her eyes she could imagine he was still in the room with her. Bella lay tossing and turning for several hours and when she did get to sleep her dreams were full of Emmett.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

As soon as he left Bella, Emmett headed into the woods so he could be alone to think. Finding a tree stump he sat down and buried his head in his hands. Emmett was feeling guilty for the lustful thoughts he was harbouring about Bella. Edward had only left a few days ago and Rose had only ended their relationship over the weekend and Emmett felt bad that he was thinking about Bella so soon after those events.

Emmett groaned as his mind replayed the memory of having Bella underneath him. It had felt completely natural to have Bella underneath him, her warm curves pressing against his hard body. He was now wishing he had kissed her soft lips but at the time he was worried about ruining their friendship.

The rest of the night had been torture for Emmett and he had had to work extremely hard to stop himself from pinning Bella to the bed and ravishing her like he wanted to do. He noticed Bella sneaking looks at him several times and Emmett only hoped that she had been unaware of the less than brotherly thoughts he had been having about her.

Eventually Emmett set off home, trying to reign in his lust before he saw Jasper and the empath found out about the new attraction to Bella Emmett had found himself with. Arriving at the house Emmett quickly headed towards his room so that no-one would ask him questions about Bella. Unfortunately just before he reached his bedroom door Alice popped up in front of him.

"Hey, Em. You've been gone ages." Alice said.

"I was helping Bella with her history." Emmett said.

"Good." Alice said, smiling widely and moving to let Emmett enter his room.

Alice stood with a wide smile on her face for some time before she headed back to her own room that she shared with Jasper. As soon as Emmett had entered the house Jasper had picked up on the passion he was feeling and a quick chat with Emmett had revealed Bella's scent all over him. To be that covered with Bella's scent, Emmett must have been extremely close to the brunette girl.

The thought of Bella and Emmett getting closer made Alice smile. Even though she had promised her family that she would leave Bella and Emmett to come together on their own Alice had always planned on giving them a helping hand. For the time being however it would seem that her help wasn't needed as Bella and Emmett seemed to be getting closer without her having to interfere.


	6. Chapter 6

Friday night found Bella driving slowly to the Cullen house, her mind firmly on the past week. She couldn't believe that it had only been a week since her birthday. It had only been a week since Edward had abandoned her. So much had changed in the past week and Bella was finding it difficult to believe that one week ago she seemed to be madly in love with Edward and was looking forward to spending her birthday with him and his family.

Bella had come to realise in the past week that she had never actually been in love with Edward. She was dazzled by him and flattered that someone as good looking as him had paid her any attention but she now knew that she hadn't actually being in love with him. If she had really loved him she wouldn't have coped so well with his abandonment and she certainly wouldn't be fantasizing about his gorgeous brother a few days after his departure.

Bella found herself smiling slightly as she thought of Emmett. For the last few days Bella had thought about Emmett a lot and she often dreamt about him, waking up in the morning incredibly aroused from her dreams. While Bella hadn't actually seen Emmett since Monday night they had texted each other several times and at times the messages had been distinctly flirty in nature.

Bella was slightly worried about visiting the Cullen house now she had developed an attraction to Emmett. She had been able to hide her newfound attraction from Alice easy enough but she was very worried about Jasper. Bella found her heart beating more rapidly as soon as Alice mentioned Emmett and she knew there would be no way to hide her attraction from Jasper as she was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to control her reaction to seeing Emmett in person.

Thoughts of Emmett and hiding her attraction to him left Bella's mind as she got closer to the Cullen house. She was suddenly overwhelmed with memories of all the times she had arrived at the house with Edward and the happy times she had had at the house with the vampire family. Bella was hoping that things wouldn't be too awkward with the rest of the family without Edward around.

The moment the large house came into view Bella felt nostalgic about Edward for a few minutes before a wave of anger towards her ex overwhelmed her. Bella was suddenly angry as she thought about the fact that if Edward had gotten his own way she wouldn't be arriving at the Cullen house, instead the entire family would have abandoned her. Bella tried to calm down by reminding herself that luckily the rest of the family weren't as callous as Edward and that they had stuck by her.

Bella parked her truck outside the house and took a minute to compose herself before she hopped out and headed towards the front door. Bella had barely reached the front door when it opened and Esme was standing in the doorway.

"Hello Bella." Esme smiled, pulling Bella into a quick hug.

"Hi Esme." Bella said, pleased that her surrogate family seemed pleased to see her.

"Come in, I've stocked the fridge so you won't get hungry." Esme said, ushering Bella into the house.

"Thanks." Bella smiled at the way Esme always spoilt her with generous amounts of food whenever she visited the Cullen house.

"Everyone's in the front room." Esme said as she grabbed her coat from the cost stand. "I'm off to pick up Carlisle from the hospital, we'll be back in a few hours."

As Esme left, Bella headed into the front room. Alice immediately rushed over and embraced Bella but the brunette's eyes had fallen on Emmett. Emmett and Jasper were sitting watching the television but as soon as Bella entered the room Emmett looked up and his amber eyes locked onto Bella's warm brown ones.

Jasper tried to control his grin when Bella stepped into the room. Emmett's emotions had been driving Jasper crazy all day, he had been anxious for hours but as soon as Bella arrived at the house he calmed down. Jasper could feel the intense attraction between Bella and Emmett as soon as they set eyes on each other. A quick look at Rose showed that the blonde vampire had also picked up on the strong attraction but Jasper knew what she sensed was nothing compared to the torrent of emotions he was feeling from Bella and Emmett.

After a few seconds Alice released Bella from her embrace and dragged her over to the larger of the two sofa's. Bella greeted everyone else as she sat down next to Alice. Emmett gave Bella a large grin and she felt herself flush with desire. The moment she looked at Jasper she knew the empath had noticed her feelings by the wicked grin on his face. Bella blushed furiously and turned away from both Emmett and Jasper and found herself facing Rosalie.

Bella was surprised when Rosalie greeted her nicely and flashed her the first genuine smile she had ever received from the frosty blonde. Bella barely had time to debate Rosalie's new attitude towards her as Alice started talking to her, asking her about staying the night.

Bella told Alice she couldn't stay as she had promised to spend the following day with Charlie at La Push Reservation. Alice shrugged slightly disappointed, and suggested they have a sleepover another weekend before she changed the topic of conversation, also dragging Rose into the conversation.

For the next hour Bella listened to Alice and Rose's conversation, only adding something when either of them spoke directly to her. Most of Bella's attention was on Emmett, she kept sneaking looks at the large vampire as he watched television with Jasper. Every now and again Emmett would catch Bella watching him and throw her a smile or wink at her causing Bella to blush and turn away from him, a smile gracing her features.

Emmett and Bella were so busy only paying attention to each other they missed the numerous looks the other three vampires kept throwing at each other. Alice and Jasper were exchanging satisfied looks with each other and both checked on Rose and her reactions numerous times. Rose silently reassured Jasper and Alice she was fine as they watched the unsubtle looks and secret smiles Bella and Emmett shared with each other.

As much as Rose was happy Emmett had finally noticed his feelings towards Bella were more than friendly it was still painful for Rose to witness the obvious attraction between them. Eventually it became too hard for her and Rose excused herself from the room. She ended up in the back garden where she sat on the porch wondering if she would be able to cope with watching a romance blossom between Emmett and Bella.

Rose had been sitting on the porch for nearly half an hour before she heard someone in the kitchen behind her. She didn't have to turn around to know it was Bella getting a can of coke from the fridge as she could clearly hear her heartbeat and smell her scent. Rose expected Bella to get her drink and return to the front room so she was surprised when she heard Bella walking towards her and come to a stop standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"Are you alright, Rosalie?" Bella asked quietly. She knew she wasn't Rose's favourite person but the blonde vampire had been acting odd all night and Bella was worried about her.

"I'm fine." Rose replied, not turning around to look at Bella.

"Okay." Bella shrugged. "I know you don't like me but I'm here if you want to talk." She added as she turned to re-enter the kitchen.

"That's not strictly true." Rose said, stopping Bella as she turned around. "I don't dislike you, Bella."

"That's not the impression I always got." Bella replied, turning back to face the blonde vampire.

"I'm sorry. I know I haven't always been very nice to you." Rose said softly. She knew she hadn't treated Bella well in the past but she had been jealous of Bella and the attraction Emmett had felt for her.

Bella moved to sit next to Rose, sensing that tonight was the time to get to know Rose better. In all the time Bella had known the Cullen's she had found Rosalie the hardest to connect with and until now the stunning blonde vampire had never really spoken to her.

"How are you coping with Edward leaving?" Rose asked, turning slightly to look at Bella.

Rose had been watching Bella and Emmett all night and while there was no denying that they had realised their attraction to each other, she wanted to be sure that Bella wouldn't hurt Emmett by getting involved with him while still hung up on Edward.

"I'm fine. If I'm being honest I'm mainly mad at him for the cowardly way he left." Bella admitted.

"He didn't exactly handle it well I must admit." Rose said, thinking about the terrible way in which Edward had finished with Bella.

"Can I ask you something?" Bella asked after a few minutes of silence. Rose nodded, curious as to what Bella wanted to asked her. "You said that you don't dislike me so why have you always treated me as if you do?"

Rose smiled slightly, impressed with Bella's straightforward question. When Edward was around there was no way that the meek Bella that was so dazzled by her brother would have dared to ask such a question.

"I suppose I don't really understand your willingness to become a vampire. You're so young and have so much to live for." Rose explained. "The others have taken to this life easier than me and I just struggle to understand why someone would voluntarily choose this life."

"I'm not really sure if I can explain." Bella said, wondering how to express the connection she felt to the Cullen's. "When Edward introduced me to your family I felt as though it was where I belonged, that I was destined to be part of your family. For the first time in my life I felt like I'd found my purpose. I don't suppose that makes much sense."

"Actually it does." Rose said. She knew the feeling of belonging Bella felt was really attached to Emmett but that was something that Bella had yet to figure out.

"Can I ask you another question?"

Rose laughed, actually liking the new bold Bella. "Sure."

"What's changed? Why are you suddenly talking to me and being nice?" Bella asked, curious as to what had prompted Rose's change of attitude towards her.

"Maybe because for the first time I'm seeing the real you, not some meek and mild girl that caters to Edward's every whim. I've seen glimpses of your real personality before but you always seemed to bury your real self to become some version of yourself that Edward wanted you to be." Rose replied, partially telling the truth. While she had noticed a big change in Bella's personality she was mainly being friendly as she wanted to stay close to Emmett and before long Bella would be the most important person in his life.

Bella wanted to argue with Rose but if she was being honest with herself the blonde vampire was right. Since meeting Edward the fun, reckless side of Bella's personality had remained hidden while she tried to behave as Edward liked.

"We should head back inside." Rose said, standing up. "Alice will get annoyed if we don't get back in time to stop Em and Jazz from playing video games."

Bella stood up and followed Rose back into the house, pleased that she had finally managed to connect in some way with the blonde vampire. Bella still felt there was an aloofness about Rose but hopefully their relationship would now get better.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Emmett tried to concentrate on the TV and not on the conversation Rose and Bella were having on the back porch but it was proving difficult. His vampire hearing picked up every word and he listened intently as Rose and Bella spoke properly for the first time.

Every time Emmett had questioned Rose about her dislike of Bella she would brush him off and tell him it was nothing. The most he had ever gotten out of her was that she didn't think Bella and Edward were suited to each other and that their relationship would end in heartbreak. Emmett had secretly agreed with Rose but didn't really think about it too much in case Edward had read his thoughts and gotten upset.

When Rose spoke about Bella's willingness to become a vampire Emmett wondered if it was something that Bella still wanted. From the way she was talking it was the whole family she wanted to be part of so there was a chance she would still want to be turned despite Edward's departure.

Emmett couldn't help but wonder what sort of vampire Bella would make. One thing he was sure of was that she would be extremely hot and sexy, she was already gorgeous and Emmett could only imagine her beauty would be amplified if she was turned. Emmett's thoughts of vampire Bella soon turned to how strong and unbreakable she would be, which led him to imagine all the things he wanted to do to her without him having to worry about hurting her.

Emmett was so distracted with his thoughts of Bella that he failed to notice Alice and Jasper whispering quietly to each other and watching him. The moment Bella had left to get a drink Jasper had moved seats so he was sitting next to Alice and the couple were currently sprawled over the large sofa together.

When Rose and Bella entered the room a few minutes later Alice managed to shoot Rose a quick look and gesture to the empty chair. Taking the hint Rose sauntered over to the chair and sat down, leaving Bella with two options of where to sit. She could either squeeze on the sofa with Alice and Jasper, who were deliberately taking up a lot of space and constantly kissing and petting each other, or she could sit on the smaller sofa next to Emmett.

Having no intention of sitting next to Alice and Jasper while they were all over each other Bella sat down next to Emmett. Bella tried not to blush as she sat down and her leg brushed up against Emmett's.

"Do you want any popcorn or anything, Bella?" Alice asked, grabbing the remote and finding the film she had selected to watch.

"No, I'm fine." Bella replied. "What are we watching?" She asked as Alice scrolled through numerous films on the large screen television.

"I thought we'd watch a few horror movies." Alice said.

"Nothing with vampires in, please." Emmett said. "They're always so stupid."

"We're not watching vampires. I prefer ghosts." Alice said, finding the film she wanted and pressing play.

Bella and Emmett settled down to watch the film, each acutely aware of how close they were to each other. Every time Bella moved slightly she brushed against Emmett, causing flashes of arousal to course through her body. Emmett was also struggling with the close proximity to Bella and every time she moved and brushed up against him he was getting more and more turned on. Less than half an hour into the film Emmett had to discreetly put a cushion on his lap to hide exactly how much Bella was affecting him.

Bella tried her hardest to concentrate on the film but was finding it difficult with Emmett being so close and distracting her. It was because she was so distracted and not really paying attention to the film that it managed to make her jump when normally she was immune to scary films.

"Are you scared?" Emmett whispered in her ear after she'd jumped slightly.

Bella shivered as Emmett's cool breath tickled the side of her neck. "No, I was just surprised." She whispered back.

Emmett chuckled softly. "Don't worry I'll protect you." He whispered.

Bella rolled her eyes but edged closer to Emmett. By the end of the film Bella was sitting with her head leaning against Emmett while he had his arm around her waist, one hand absentmindedly playing with Bella's hair.

When the first film finished Alice immediately selected a second one, grinning to herself as she noticed how close Emmett and Bella were sitting. Alice couldn't help but notice that she had never seen Bella curled up against Edward like she was with Emmett. While Edward would often put his arm around Bella she would never snuggle into him like she was doing with Emmett.

Alice settled back down next to Jasper to watch the next film, pleased her meddling to get Bella and Emmett to sit next to each other seemed to have worked out really well.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - Sorry for the length of time between chapters but I've been really busy with my other stories. I will try and post more regularly though. I hope you enjoy the chapter as Jake enters the story. I just want to point out that he'll have no romantic feelings for Bella so his attitude towards the Cullen's will be different to the books as there's no jealousy involved.**

* * *

Bella and Charlie drove to LaPush in comfortable silence. One of the things Bella appreciated most about her father was his ability not to feel the need to talk incessantly about nothing. Despite the numerous silences that occurred between the pair neither Bella or Charlie felt the need to be constantly talking to each other, both were happy just to get along quietly.

When they arrived at the reservation Billy was sitting outside his house waiting for Charlie. Bella and Charlie got out of Charlie's car and greeted Billy. After greeting his friend Charlie began packing the fishing gear into his car.

"Jake's in the garage, Bella." Billy said. "And there's plenty of food in the house for you two."

"Thanks." Bella said.

"We'll be back later tonight." Charlie said to Bella. "Be good."

"Have fun you two." Bella said, as the two men finished packing the car.

Bella turned and wandered over to the garage as Charlie and Billy made the final preparations for their trip. Bella wandered into the garage and spotted the black head of Jacob kneeling beside a motorbike.

"Hi, Jake." Bella greeted, causing Jacob to whirl round.

"Bella." Jacob smiled. Despite only spending a brief bit of time with Bella since her return to Forks, Jacob felt they could become good friends.

"You don't mind me hanging out here do you?" Bella asked. She was worried that Charlie had forced her on Jacob in his eagerness to want her to connect with people other than The Cullen's.

"Of course not. I'm sure we'll have plenty of fun." Jacob said. "Do you know anything about bikes?" He asked, gesturing to the machine behind him.

"No." Bella shook her head and moved closer to the bike. "I would love to ride one though."

Jacob looked shocked by Bella's confession, he had never pictured her as the type of girl who would like bikes. "When I get this one fixed, I'll take you for a ride." He said.

"Great." Bella grinned. "You better get on fixing it then." She told Jacob as she perched on a nearby table.

Jacob turned back to his bike while him and Bella started to talk. For nearly an hour they talked and laughed with each other, immediately understanding each other's sense of humour and feeling comfortable together.

Bella and Jacob were still in the garage working on Jacob's bike when two boys suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Jake." One of the boys called. "We were going to ask if you wanted to come to the beach, but you look a little busy."

Bella blushed slightly as the two boys made no effort to hide the admiring looks they were throwing her way as they checked her out.

"Do you fancy going to the beach, Bella?" Jacob asked.

"Sure." Bella replied.

"Okay, we'll come with you." Jacob told his friends. "Guys, this is Bella. Bella this is Embry and Quil."

Bella said hello to Jacob's friends as the three boys arranged to meet at the beach in a while. Embry and Quil reluctantly left the garage as they went for supplied for the afternoon on the beach while Jacob packed away his tools.

"Come on, I need to get washed and changed then we can head down to the beach." Jacob said, leading Bella out of the garage and into the house.

Bella waited in the front room while Jacob headed into the bathroom to get washed. When Jacob returned he had also been changed and his grease covered clothes had been replaced by clean jeans and a dark blue t-shirt.

Jacob and Bella headed out of the house and towards the pathway that led to the beach. All the way the two of them were chatting away like old friends as they joked and laughed together.

Arriving on the beach they found Embry and Quil had already arrived, bringing with them a large blanket and several boxes of food.

"Wow, did you guys bring enough food?" Bella asked as she and Jacob approached the duo.

"We're growing boys, Bella." Quil grinned. "We need out food."

Bella laughed and settled down on the blanket while Jacob began checking out the food his friends had brought. Bella watched at the three boys dug into the food, devouring it as though they hadn't eaten in a week.

Once most of the food had gone Jacob, Embry and Quil decided to go swimming in the sea. Bella declined to join them and instead sat watching as the three boys rushed into the cold water and began play fighting.

While Bella was watching Jake and his friends she got a text from Emmett moaning about being bored. Bella smiled at the message and texted him back. Within a few minutes Bella and Emmett were having a full blown conversation via text message. Bella was so busy talking with Emmett she didn't notice Jacob returning until he sat down next to her.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Jacob asked. He couldn't remember the name of Bella's boyfriend but he could remember how rude he had been towards him the one time they had met.

"No." Bella shook her head. "Edward's gone."

"Gone where?" Jacob asked.

Bella briefly explained Edward's departure, leaving out the details involving his family's vampire nature.

"I'm sorry, Bella. That must suck." Jacob said.

"Actually it's fine. I don't really miss him at all." Bella said, smiling as she received another text from Emmett.

"I can see that." Jacob said. "Obviously you've moved on."

"What do you mean?" Bella asked confused.

"Well whoever you're texting sure puts a smile on your face." Jacob said.

"Emmett's just a friend." Bella explained, ignoring the little voice in her head that was telling her she wished he was more than that.

"Really." Jacob said sceptically. "None of my friends have the ability to make me smile like that when I receive a text from them."

"Emmett and I are just friends." Bella said. "I'm sure I would smile if I received a text from you."

"Sure." Jacob laughed. Despite Bella's protests it was obvious to Jake that she thought of this Emmett guy as more than a friend.

Bella thought about arguing but knew the more she protested the more Jacob would be convinced that she was lying. Instead she settled for saying nothing and settled back on the blanket to enjoy the sun.

"So what's this friend of yours like?" Jacob asked, curious as to who was making Bella so happy.

"Emmett's great fun. He's really laid back and easy to talk to." Bella said, unable to stop the smile that appeared on her face when she spoke about him. "You'd really like him."

"You'll have to introduce us sometime." Jacob said.

"Sure." Bella nodded. She was convinced that Jacob and Emmett would get along well as they were both laid back and friendly people.

"How long have you known him?" Jacob asked.

"A while. He's actually Edward's brother." Bella said.

"Keeping it in the family, Bella." Jacob laughed.

"We're just friends." Bella protested again.

Jacob didn't bother replying, it was obvious that Bella was in denial about her feelings about Emmett. Jacob wondered if the feeling was mutual or if Bella had a crush on someone who wasn't interested in her. Jacob decided he would have to get Bella to introduce them soon so he could see what Emmett was like and whether Bella's feelings were reciprocated.

For the rest of the afternoon neither Bella or Jacob mentioned Emmett again, although Bella did carry on texting him. After spending a while longer on the beach Jacob and Bella returned to his house where they settled in front of the television until Charlie and Billy returned from their fishing trip.

When they did return Bella offered to cook dinner for everyone, using the fish they had caught. Jacob tried to help Bella with the food but he was so bad at cooking that Bella eventually pushed him out of the kitchen so she could work in peace.

After dinner Charlie and Bella decided to head home. While Charlie and Billy were arranging their next fishing trip Bella and Jacob exchanged phone numbers and vowed to meet up again soon.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"Did you have fun with Jake?" Charlie asked.

Charlie and Bella had just returned home and Charlie had immediately settled in front of the television, finding a ball game to watch. Bella had just been about to head upstairs when Charlie's question had stopped her.

"Yes. Thanks for making me go, I had fun today." Bella said.

"Good." Charlie nodded. "Jake's a good kid, I'm sure you'll be great friends."

"I'm sure we will." Bella agreed. "I'm off upstairs."

Charlie grunted a reply but his attention was now firmly on the television screen once he had said what he wanted to say. Bella headed upstairs leaving her father shouting at the television.

When she entered her bedroom Bella wondered what to do. On her desk was a pile of homework but it wasn't what Bella fancied doing on a Saturday night. Bella looked around the room for something else to do but came up empty handed.

Eventually Bella did end up sitting at her desk but she ignored her homework and flipped on her computer to check her e-mails. Finding a message from her mother, Renee, Bella opened the e-mail and read what her mother had to say. After reading the e-mail Bella composed one herself, filling her mother in on everything she had been doing. After sending the message Bella switched off her computer and flopped onto the bed.

Bella was still lying on the bed ten minutes later when she heard a soft tapping noise on her bedroom window. Turning round Bella was pleased to see Emmett sitting in the tree outside her window. Bella got off the bed and went to open the window for the vampire.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked as Emmett silently jumped into the bedroom from the nearby tree.

"I told you I was bored earlier." Emmett shrugged.

"So you thought you'd come and see me, how sweet." Bella said.

"Not exactly. I was annoying Alice, so she sent me over to see you." Emmett admitted.

"So you were forced into coming and seeing me, that makes a girl feel so special." Bella said, sitting back down on her bed.

"I would have come anyway, Alice just sped things along." Emmett said, sitting down next to Bella.

"Why would you have come to see me?" Bella asked. "I only saw you yesterday."

"Because I missed you. You're probably my best friend and you're definitely the person I most enjoy spending time with." Emmett said quietly. There were a few other reasons that Emmett had been eager to see Bella but he settled for the ones he knew she would appreciate, he was still unsure if Bella would welcome any sort of romantic feelings from him.

Bella smiled widely at Emmett's confession, she was pleased that Emmett thought so highly of her. She was now just wondering if she could get him to see her in a less of a friendly light and more of a romantic one. Bella wasn't really convinced that Emmett would ever be interested in her romantically. The only person he had been romantically involved with in years was Rose and Bella knew she was very plain compared to the gorgeous blonde vampire that Emmett was used to.

"Alice did have an ulterior motive in sending me over." Emmett said, unaware of the turmoil he was creating in Bella's head. "She wants me to convince you to agree to having a sleepover next weekend."

"Sleepovers generally involve more than one person sleeping." Bella said.

"You're going to make me work for a positive answer aren't you?" Emmett said.

"Yes." Bella grinned wickedly, deciding to have some fun with Emmett. "It's going to take a lot of work to convince me I should be sleeping in a house of vampires for a weekend."

Emmett grinned at Bella and began the long task of persuading her to visit the house over the weekend. Despite both of them knowing Bella was always going to say yes Bella and Emmett thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they bantered back and forth all night, until Bella finally gave in just before it was time for her to go to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Bella was slightly surprised that Charlie had quickly agreed to her staying the weekend with The Cullen's, although she suspected the fact that Alice had asked him had made the difference. Charlie was a huge fan of Alice's and was unable to resist the petite vampire anything when she turned on the charm.

After school on Friday night Alice had arrived at Bella's house, where she proceeded to pack an overnight bag for Bella. Despite Bella insisting she could pack her own things for the weekend Alice had insisted on taking over the job. When they had finished packing they said goodbye to Charlie and Alice had driven them to the Cullen house.

It wasn't till they had arrived in the house and Bella had greeted the vampire family that she thought of a problem. Whenever she had spent the weekend with the Cullen's before she had stayed in Edward's room, which obviously wasn't an option any more. Firstly her ex-boyfriend no longer had a room in the house and even if he did there was no way Bella would have stayed in it.

"Alice, where am I going to sleep?" Bella asked as the tiny vampire dragged her into the living room where Emmett and Jasper were currently playing video games.

Alice cocked her head to the side as if debating the options in her head even though she knew exactly where Bella was going to spend the night. "Well I don't suppose you want to stay in Rose's room." Alice said. "There's probably too many memories in the room, plus you and Rose aren't exactly very close."

"No, I'd definitely not be comfortable in Rose's room." Bella agreed.

"There is mine and Jasper's room I suppose." Alice mused. "I'm sure we can keep our hands off each other for one weekend."

A loud laugh from Emmett drew Bella's attention towards the large vampire. "You and Jazz can hardly keep your hands off each other for one hour, I doubt you'll last the entire weekend. Poor Bella will wake up in the middle of the night to find two randy vampires in bed with her."

"I'm sure that wouldn't happen." Jasper said. The sly grin on his face however told a different story.

Bella looked between Jasper and Alice warily, she knew from her own experience with the couple that they were extremely tactile with one another and it was quite possible that they could forget she was using their bedroom in the midst of their passion. Bella really didn't want to witness anything private between the couple and she felt that if she used their room there was a good chance she would find out more about their love life then she cared to know.

"No offence Alice, but I really don't think using your room's the best idea." Bella said.

"There's only one solution then, you'll have to use Emmett's room." Alice said with a grin.

"What?" Bella cried while Emmett turned around to glare at his sister.

"It's the only alternative." Alice shrugged. "You and Em get along great and it's not exactly like he needs the bed."

Bella could see the logic in Alice's argument but she knew staying in Emmett's room would do nothing to stop the massive crush she was developing on him. Unfortunately for Bella she couldn't think of a way of refusing without revealing her feelings for Emmett.

"I suppose that's okay." Bella said, admitting defeat. Bella knew she couldn't really be mad at Alice for suggesting she stay in Emmett's room since the vampire didn't know about her crush on her brother. "As long as it's okay with Emmett." Bella added, looking directly at Emmett.

"It's fine, Bella." Emmett smiled at Bella. "I have no objection to you being in my bed."

Bella blushed slightly at Emmett's words but managed to mumble a thank you. Emmett chuckled at Bella's embarrassment, shooting her a killer grin before he turned back to his paused game.

Alice and Jasper shared a smile as they watched Bella and Emmett interact, it was obvious to both of them that Bella and Emmett were now aware of the attraction they felt for each other. Alice was now hoping that by the end of the weekend that Bella and Emmett would have admitted their attraction to each other.

Alice waited until Emmett and Jasper had finished their game before she suddenly announced that Emmett should take Bella up to his room so she could get settled in. Jasper shot Alice a warning look, worried that Bella or Emmett would catch on to her meddling behaviour. Fortunately neither Bella or Emmett noticed anything strange about Alice or her behaviour.

Alice couldn't contain her triumphant smile when Bella and Emmett headed upstairs, Emmett insisting he carry Bella's bag for her. Settling back down on the sofa Alice waited for Bella and Emmett to return, contemplating how else she could push them together.

Upstairs Emmett silently led Bella towards his bedroom, hoping he hadn't left the room in a complete mess. Trying not to stare at the gorgeous vampire in front of her Bella tried to distract herself by imagining what Emmett's room would be like. Bella had never seen the room when he had shared it with Rose, she knew the bedroom he occupied was the same one but had been decorated after the break up.

When Emmett reached his bedroom and opened the door Bella was surprised that the room wasn't overly masculine. The walls were a lovely shade of light blue, the large bed was covered with a dark blue cover that matched the room perfectly. The rest of the furniture was made from a dark wood but the large window stopped the room from being too dark.

"It's a nice room." Bella commented, immediately feeling comfortable in the room.

"Yeah, it is." Emmett agreed, depositing Bella's bag onto his bed. "Alice and Esme did a great job with it."

"It's a lot tidier than I'd imagined." Bella admitted, she knew Emmett was slightly messy so she had expected more disorder in the room.

"It's normally messier than this." Emmett said, noticing the tidy room for the first time. Emmett looked around the room puzzled, he knew for a fact that his bedroom was never this tidy.

"I suppose we should be getting back." Bella said. She had noticed the large television on Emmett's wall and would have been quite happy to curl up on Emmett's bed with him and watch a film but she knew that Alice had plans for the evening.

"Yeah, we should." Emmett said, turning towards the door.

Bella grabbed Emmett's arm as he turned, even though her touch wasn't nearly strong enough to stop the vampire Emmett still turned round to face Bella.

"Are you sure you don't mind me using your room for the weekend?" Bella asked, she was worried that he hadn't really been given him the chance to object earlier.

"No, I don't mind." Emmett reassured Bella. "You can use it whenever you stay over."

"Thanks, Em." Bella smiled, appreciating the gesture.

Emmett smiled back at Bella before they made their way back downstairs to face whatever Alice had in store for them.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Emmett flicked around the television channels, desperately trying to take his mind off the thought of Bella sleeping in his bed. Images of Bella in his bed had been flooding Emmett's mind ever since Alice suggested that was where she should stay for the night. While everyone was still around Emmett had been able to keep the images to a minimum but now he was alone his thoughts kept turning distinctly dirty.

When Bella and Emmett had first returned from dropping her bag off in his room the entire family had been present, gradually though they all disappeared over the course of the night. Esme and Carlisle had disappeared after the first film of the night, Alice had produced several films that she announced they would be watching over the course of the weekend. Rosalie managed to stay for one film after that but as soon as the second film finished she announced she was off hunting. By the end of the third film Bella was getting tired so she headed off to bed, Alice and Jasper had disappeared quickly after that leaving Emmett all alone with his thoughts.

Desperate to take his mind off the sleeping human upstairs Emmett searched for a decent film to watch. Everything Alice had made them watch earlier were chick flicks and he had been bored the entire time, which meant his mind had wandered a few times. Emmett was hoping a decent film with plenty of action would distract him until his family returned. After searching through all the films beside the television Emmett was disappointed to discover none of his action films were there. Emmett kept the majority of the films in his room but he knew for a fact that he always kept a small selection downstairs.

Emmett looked towards the stairs, trying to decide what to do. He could try and find something on the television to occupy his mind or he could go up and get one of his films. Emmett knew he could be in and out of his room without disturbing Bella, he just wasn't sure if it was a good idea to see Bella in his bed. Despite thinking it was a bad idea Emmett couldn't resist the idea of seeing Bella in his bed, so he set off up the stairs.

Emmett paused before entering his bedroom, trying to decide if he was doing the right thing. In the last few weeks Emmett had regularly pictured Bella in his bed, although in his fantasies he had been with her. Emmett knew once he saw Bella settled in his bed he would never be able to get the image out of his head, it would probably just add fuel to his fantasies.

Getting tired of debating with himself Emmett quietly opened the door and entered the room. His eyes immediately fell to the bed, illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the window. Bella was lying on her back, her long hair splayed out over his pillow. The blue sheets covered the lower half of Bella's body but her top half, covered by a flimsy green vest top, was uncovered. Emmett's eyes roved over Bella's body, his excellent eyesight enabling him to make out every curve of her body.

Reluctantly Emmett tore his gaze away from Bella, turning round he began to search for a film to watch. Emmett had always considered it creepy that Edward had watched Bella sleep but now he understood his brother's fascination, she looked so peaceful and perfect when she was asleep it was hard to tear your eyes away from her.

Emmett continued to look for a film, until he heard a moan from Bella. Turning round to check he hadn't woken her, Emmett noticed that Bella had changed position slightly but was still asleep. Figuring Bella was just dreaming Emmett turned round, finally finding the film he was looking for.

"Emmett."

At Bella's cry of his name Emmett spun round, only to discover that Bella was still sleeping. Despite his heightened senses it took Emmett a minute or so to figure out what was happening. It was only when Bella moaned his name again and arched her back that Emmett realised that she was dreaming about him. At the realisation that Bella was dreaming about him Emmett moved closer to his bed, it was only as he moved closer that Emmett could smell Bella's arousal. Emmett's mouth dropped open in shock, as he suddenly realised exactly what sort of dream Bella was having about him.

When Bella moaned his name for a third time, Emmett had to fight not to reach out and touch her. The sheets had tangled around Bella's legs as she moved around and Emmett couldn't help but notice her prominent nipples, extremely visible through the thin top she was wearing. The sight of Bella thrashing about and moaning his name had Emmett hard in minutes, he would much rather she was awake and it was actually him making her moan but he couldn't help but be pleased that she was dreaming about him.

Emmett continued to watch Bella for a few minutes, however as her dream continued to become more vocal he was struggling more and more not to touch her. After coming incredibly close to reaching out and caressing her Emmett backed away from the bed and slowly made his way from the bedroom. All the way down the stairs Emmett's vampire hearing continued to pick up the moans and whimpers from Bella.

Throwing the DVD on the sofa Emmett headed outside to get some air. Not thinking about where he was going Emmett wandered around the garden, eventually ending up leaning against a large tree. It was only when he heard Bella call out his name again that Emmett realised that he was leaning on the tree that stood outside his bedroom window. Emmett debated moving on from the tree but listening to Bella was too alluring as he stayed exactly where he was.

Emmett stayed leaning against the tree, getting more and more turned on as he listened to Bella. His excellent hearing picked up on every little noise she made and he immediately noticed when her moans became less frequent, eventually stopping nearly ten minutes after he had left the house. By the time Bella had stopped dreaming Emmett was ready to burst. Taking a quick glance at his bedroom window Emmett headed further into the trees to deal with his large problem.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Bella began to wake up gradually, the rain pelting off the window had disturbed her sleep. Bella rolled over in the bed, reluctant to leave the comfort of the large bed. Bella knew her reluctance to leave the comfortable bed was partly due to the fact that she could clearly smell Emmett's musky scent on the covers. Bella had noticed the smell as soon as she had settled into the bed the previous night, she was also convinced that the smell had led to her dreams of Emmett being more vivid than normal.

Bella had been dreaming of Emmett for the past few weeks but her dreams the previous night had been so much more sensual than her normal ones. Bella blushed slightly as she remembered her dreams in great detail, she had always been able to remember every aspect of her dreams ever since she was a young girl. As Bella thought about her dreams she suddenly had a mortifying thought, what if anyone had heard her. She had been very vocal in her dreams and Bella knew that she had a tendency to talk in her sleep.

Bella was horrified at the thought of any of the Cullen's hearing what she was dreaming about. Esme and Carlisle were like parents to her and the thought of them knowing about her dreams was mortifying for Bella. Bella also wasn't comfortable with anyone else knowing, Alice would likely tease her about the dreams and Rose would most likely be upset that Bella was thinking about Emmett in a sexual way. Then there was Emmett to think about, Bella would be so embarrassed if Emmett knew about her dreams and the thoughts she had about him. Bella decided that the person it would bother her the least knowing was Jasper, although she still hoped that he hadn't heard her either. Bella knew there was a good chance that Jasper had already picked up on her feelings for Emmett so her dreams wouldn't be as surprising to him.

Then there was the main reason that Bella hadn't actually acted on her feelings for Emmett, Edward and Rosalie. Edward had only left a few weeks ago and Bella knew it was bad of her to have gotten over him so quickly, she was also unsure if Emmett had gotten over Rose ending their relationship so abruptly. Even if Emmett had gotten over Rose and returned her feelings, which Bella thought he might well do so, there was still the rest of the family to think about. Bella loved the Cullen's and didn't want anything to jeopardise her relationship with them, something she was worried would happen if she got involved with Emmett.

After lying in bed for nearly half an hour Bella decided it was time to get up and face the Cullen's, hopefully no-one would mention her nocturnal ramblings. After using the bathroom and getting dressed Bella ventured downstairs. When Bella entered the kitchen she found cereal and juice sitting on the table while Esme was making waffles.

"Sit down, Bella." Esme said, greeting Bella with a smile. "Breakfast will be ready in a minute."

"You don't have to go to all this trouble, Esme. I'm fine with cereal." Bella said, sitting down at the table.

"It's no trouble, I enjoy it." Esme said, placing a large plate of waffles on the table next to Bella.

Bella was suddenly really hungry at the sight of the waffles, for someone who didn't actually eat Esme was an amazing cook. After thanking Esme for breakfast, Bella hungrily dug into the plate of waffles. Halfway through breakfast Alice appeared and sat down opposite Bella, a wide smile on her face.

Bella was immediately suspicious of Alice but before she got a chance to speak the petite vampire began to tell Bella about her plans for the day. Bella moaned at the mention of shopping but she brightened slightly when Alice said that Esme and Rose would be joining them. While Bella hated shopping she knew it would be more relaxing with Esme and Rose, Rose could keep up with Alice while Esme was quite prepared to visit shops that weren't clothes shops with Bella.

After Bella had finished her breakfast the women set off shopping while the men settled down for a day of watching sport. Bella had been relived that no-one had mentioned the previous night when she spoke to the rest of the family, either no-one had heard her dreams or they were too polite to mention them.

The days shopping wasn't that bad for Bella. Rose and Alice had spent the majority of their time in the fashion boutiques while Esme and Bella had wandered off on their own. Esme was much more interested in shops that specialised in interior design and she happily let Bella browse in the bookstores. Unlike Alice, Esme also remembered that Bella had to eat and she didn't moan when Bella stopped for food.

After spending nearly all day shopping Bella was relieved when Alice and Rose decided it was time to go home. Less than ten minutes after arriving home Bella found herself alone with Emmett in the front room. Upon arriving home Esme had immediately rushed off to find Carlisle while Rose had headed off to her room to unpack her bags. Alice had stayed in the front room for a few minutes, but she soon tempted Jasper into going upstairs to view what she had bought for him.

Bella and Emmett chatted happily until the rest of the family returned. Despite her growing feelings for Emmett, Bella always felt comfortable around Emmett and never felt awkward in any way. Bella could never remember feeling so relaxed and comfortable around Edward, her ex had been much more serious than Emmett so Bella had never felt completely herself with him.

Once Alice returned she immediately set about sorting out more DVD's to watch. Bella was disappointed when Emmett announced that he wasn't sitting through another night of chick flicks, instead he went off to his room to watch some of his own films. Bella watched as Emmett left the room, after spending all day out of the house she had been looking forward to spending some time with him.

Alice however failed to notice Bella's disappointment, settling down next to her best friend she proceeded to chat incessantly to Bella throughout the evening. Bella stayed with the family for as long as she thought polite, although as soon as she thought it wasn't rude to leave she claimed to be tired so she could go to bed.

"Just tell Emmett to leave, if he's still in his room." Esme said, kissing Bella on the cheek as she left the room.

Bella headed upstairs towards Emmett's room, wondering whether she would ask him to leave his room. The idea of spending time with Emmett was appealing to Bella but she was starting to feel tired. Bella entered the room still unsure of what she was going to do, however seeing Emmett lying on the bed made the idea of asking him to leave the room pretty hard for Bella.

"HI, Bella." Emmett greeted with a smile. "Do you want me to leave?" He asked, assuming that she was coming to bed.

Bella glanced at the television, noticing the film on the screen was only just beginning. "No, you can stay and watch your film." Bella said, gathering up her nightwear and toiletries. "I'll just go and get ready for bed."

Bella headed towards the bathroom, returning five minutes later wearing her pyjama's. As Bella replaced her toiletries back into her bag she failed to notice Emmett watching her every move. When she had put her belongings away Bella turned to the bed, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"I thought you were going to bed." Emmett said, pulling back the covers on the bed next to him.

"I am." Bella said, climbing into the bed.

"Are you sure you don't want me to leave?" Emmett asked.

"Stay." Bella said. "Besides I like this film, it's better than the mushy romances Alice made me watch."

"Anything's better than the slush Alice watches." Emmett chuckled.

Bella laughed lightly in response as she settled down to watch the film with Emmett. Over the course of the film Bella found herself leaning more into Emmett as she fought to stay awake. By the end of the film Emmett had wrapped his arm around Bella and she was lightly dozing on him.

When the film finished Emmett stopped the DVD with the remote before looking at the slumbering girl who was lying on him. Emmett watched Bella for several minutes before he reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her face. The movement seemed to wake Bella as her eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Emmett said quietly.

"I wasn't asleep." Bella protested. Emmett raised an eyebrow question at Bella's blatant lie. "Okay, maybe I dropped off a tiny bit." She admitted.

"I should be going and let you get to sleep." Emmett said, reluctant to leave.

Bella didn't respond, she was worried that if she opened her mouth she would beg Emmett to stay. Bella hadn't failed to notice that she was still partially lying on Emmett and he still had his arm wrapped firmly around her.

Despite his words Emmett made no move to leave his room, instead he stayed exactly where he was, looking directly into Bella's warm eyes. Slowly reaching out and caressing Bella's face, Emmett began inching his head towards Bella. At this precise minute Emmett didn't care that Bella was his brother's ex, all he wanted to do was kiss the beautiful girl lying in his bed.

The moment Emmett touched her Bella knew what was going to happen. Forgetting all about the rest of the family and their potential reactions Bella leant forward slightly to meet Emmett's lips.

"Emmett get down here, we're going hunting." Jasper's voice interrupted the couple, seconds before their lips were about to meet.

Emmett growled softly at the interruption while Bella mentally cursed Jasper for interrupting the moment. As the moment was now ruined, Emmett and Bella slowly pulled apart.

"Sorry, I promised Jazz we'd go hunting tonight." Emmett said, reluctantly getting up off his bed. He was already thinking of ways to make his brother pay for disturbing him and Bella.

"It's fine." Bella shrugged. "Have fun."

"Night, Bella." Emmett said, slowly making his way to the bedroom door.

"Night, Emmett." Bella said, watching as Emmett reluctantly left the room.

Once she was alone Bella lay back on the bed, sighing with frustration. She had been so close to kissing Emmett, she had felt his icy breath begin to ghost across her lips just as Jasper interrupted them. As much as Bella was frustrated and annoyed with Jasper she was pleased with the nights events, at least now she knew for definite that Emmett felt something for her. While Jasper may have ruined what would have been their first kiss, Bella was quietly confident that something would end up developing with Emmett. Settling down for sleep Bella vowed to herself that sooner or later she would finally kiss Emmett.


	9. Chapter 9

Emmett sat staring at the dark sea, waiting patiently for Bella to arrive with her friend from the reservation. Bella had been trying to arrange a meeting between Emmett and Jacob for a while now. After initially saying no Emmett finally relented in the face of Bella's pleading, he wasn't sure what sort of reception he would receive from someone who was supposed to be his enemy. Emmett knew all about the Quileute tribe and their wolf nature, he also knew that over the last few months there had been an increase in the amount of wolves that were phasing. Emmett was pretty sure that Jacob hadn't phased yet but he knew that he would within the next few months.

Emmett was hoping that after Jacob phased he wasn't going to make a fuss over Bella spending time with vampires. Emmett knew exactly how attached to Jacob Bella had become and how much it would hurt her if he turned against her for associating with vampires. Part of the reason Emmett had agreed to meet Jacob was to get to know him so when he did phase he would know that his family were good people.

At the sound of an approaching vehicle Emmett turned his head, despite not being able to see anything just yet. As the vehicle drew closer Emmett could hear Bella laughing, something that made him smile. Emmett remained sitting on the large rock as he watched the truck that Bella was riding in appear in the distance. Emmett waited until the truck had pulled up and Bella had gotten out of the passenger side before he stood up.

"Emmett, you're here." Bella grinned at the large vampire.

"I promised I would be." Emmett replied, hugging Bella quickly.

"I never doubted it." Bella said, although by her reaction she clearly had been worried that Emmett would fail to show.

Turning back to the truck Bella grabbed hold of Jacob's hand and pulled him over to where Emmett was standing.

"Emmett this is Jake, Jake this is Emmett." Bella said, introducing her two friends.

Emmett and Jacob shook hands and exchanged friendly smiles, they both knew how much the meeting meant to Bella.

"Whoa, your hands are like ice." Jacob said, pulling away from Emmett as quickly as possible.

"I've been here a while." Emmett shrugged.

"Sorry are we late?" Jacob questioned.

"Nah." Emmett reassured Jacob. "I have a large family, sometimes it's nice to have some time alone."

"Bella said you had tons of siblings." Jacob said.

"I have two sisters and two brothers, I would hardly call that tons." Emmett said, surprising himself by including Rose as one of his siblings.

"Four siblings seems like a lot to me." Jacob laughed along with Emmett.

While he had only just met Emmett, Jacob already liked him a hell of a lot better than Edward. Granted Jacob had only met Edward briefly, but that meeting was more than enough to figure out that he was a stuffy person with little sense of fun about him.

Bella watched happily as Emmett and Jacob seemed to be getting along just fine. She really wanted both boys to get along and it was reassuring to note that they were both making an effort.

"Should we get the bikes out?" Jacob asked.

They were currently situated on a deserted track up by the woods where Jacob and Bella were planning on test driving their newest bike. After Jacob had fixed up the bike he was working on when Bella first visited LaPush he had taken Bella for a ride and the brunette had wanted one of her own. Since then the pair of them had worked on restoring a second bike for Bella.

"Sure." Bella agreed. "Are you coming, Em?"

Emmett watched in amusement as Jacob pulled two dirt bikes from the bed of his truck. "I think I'll pass, Bella. Let me know if you ever fancy a ride on a proper bike."

"These are proper bikes." Jacob protested.

"Those are kid bikes." Emmett chuckled. "I'm talking about a grown man's bike."

"You're only saying that because you're so big." Bella laughed. "Maybe if you were regular sized, these bikes would be perfect."

"Who wants to be regular sized?" Emmett questioned. "Bigger is better." He added with a mischievous smirk.

Bella blushed as her mind immediately went into the gutter. Jacob and Emmett both noticed the blush and both men had a laugh at Bella's embarrassment.

"Are we doing this or not?" Bella questioned, trying to get the attention away from her red face.

"Of course, let's get set up." Jacob said, getting the bikes ready to go.

"I'm going back to my rock to watch the fun." Emmett said to Bella before bending down and giving her a peck on the cheek. "Don't crash and kill yourself." He whispered.

"I won't." Bella promised.

"Have fun." Emmett called as he headed back to the rock and settled down to watch Bella.

Emmett had only being watching Bella and Jacob a few minutes before his mind started to wander, specifically to six weeks ago when he and Bella had almost kissed. Since their almost kiss Emmett had being keeping Bella at a distance as he tried to come to terms with what else he had discovered that night.

When Jasper had interrupted the almost kiss Emmett had been fuming and by the time he reached his brother he was in a foul mood. Even without his empath abilities Jasper had been able to see something was bothering Emmett. After an hour or so of silent hunting Jasper had confronted Emmett and gotten him to admit what was bothering him.

Jasper's reaction hadn't been what Emmett was expecting, instead of focusing on the fact Emmett and Bella had almost kissed Jasper seemed more concerned with getting into trouble with Alice. It didn't take much persuading for Jasper to tell Emmett everything he knew and why Alice would be mad at him. It turned out Jasper was afraid Alice would be mad as she had spent the entire weekend pushing for Emmett and Bella to get closer and Jasper had unintentionally ruined it.

When Emmett questioned why Alice was pushing him and Bella together Jasper reluctantly spoke of Alice's visions and the fact Emmett and Bella were mates. After a bit more pushing Emmett also discovered all of his family knew of the situation and had decided not to tell him or Bella. After making Jasper swear he wouldn't tell the other he knew about Alice's visions, Emmett had wandered off on his own as he tried to make sense of what he had discovered.

Emmett was genuinely shocked that he and Bella were mates. He knew he was massively attracted to Bella and he was beginning to think the attraction had always been there but he was still unsure about the mate thing. Emmett thought long and hard about his bond with Bella and began wondering if the reason he was so against her being with Edward was because deep down he knew she should be with him. Maybe that was why he was so adamant about not leaving Forks when Edward did, the thought of leaving Bella had hurt him deeply but at the time Emmett had put it down to the fact she was part of the family and he would feel the same way about any of the others.

After replaying him memories of Bella in his head Emmett realised that Jasper was right, she was his mate and he couldn't imagine his life without her. After coming to terms with the fact his brother's ex-girlfriend was his mate Emmett turned his attention to his family. Jasper hadn't focused too much on who knew what and when they had found out but he had admitted everyone was aware that Bella and Emmett were mates, everyone but Bella and Emmett themselves that was.

Emmett supposed he could understand why they didn't inform him or Bella but he couldn't help but be hurt by their actions. For god knows how long they had all kept this secret from him and Bella and he had no idea whether they ever would have admitted what they knew. Emmett's feelings of hurt regarding his family also brought another problem, did he now tell Bella what he knew?

Emmett was fairly certain that Bella was developing feelings for him but he didn't want to force her to act on them just because they were mates and she felt she had to. He also didn't want to lie to her, now he was aware of their connection he felt it only right that Bella should know. Over the last six weeks Emmett had come close to telling Bella about being her mate on numerous occasions but they either ended up getting interrupted or he lost his nerve. However Emmett was determined that it was time she knew the truth, even if she chose not to act on the information he knew she deserved to be aware of the situation.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Bella couldn't help but let her gaze wander to Emmett as her and Jacob packed away the bikes. The afternoon had flown over and apart from one tiny crash she had emerged unscathed. Bella was vaguely aware of Jacob talking as she watched Emmett leaning against his car with his phone in his hands.

"Earth to Bella." Jacob called, waving a hand in front of his friend's face.

"Sorry, I was miles away." Bella said, turning her attention back to Jacob.

"I wouldn't say that." Jacob grinned. "More like a few foot."

"What?" Bella questioned, totally confused by Jacob's response.

"Come on Bella, it's been obvious all afternoon where your attention has been." Jacob said.

"I don't know what you mean." Bella insisted.

"Emmett." Jacob said, pointing out the obvious. "Apart from when we were on the bikes you've been staring at him all afternoon."

"I wasn't staring." Bella said stubbornly. She knew full well she had been staring, she just didn't want to admit it.

"Sure you weren't." Jacob rolled his eyes. "Just like Emmett hasn't spent the afternoon staring at you."

"I'm sure he hasn't." Bella sighed, glancing at Emmett from the corner of her eye. She knew the vampire was close enough to hear the conversation but he looked engrossed in whatever he was doing on his phone.

"He has." Jacob insisted. "What are you two waiting for? It's clear to see that you both like each other, so what's with the dancing around each other?"

"It's complicated." Bella sighed quietly. Ever since their almost kiss six weeks ago Emmett had kept her at arm's length and she was worried that her feelings weren't reciprocated.

"Life is only as complicated as you make it." Jacob said. "You like him, he likes you, it's as simple as that."

"I wish it was." Bella sighed. "I'm not sure he thinks of me like that, I'm just like a sister to him."

"Don't be so blind, Bella." Jacob said. "I've seen the way he looks at you and believe me it's not in a brotherly way. His thoughts about you are far from sibling orientated."

"Do you think so?" Bella asked, taking another covert look at Emmett.

"I know so." Jacob said. "Now by the next time I see you I expect to hear things have moved along. If the pair of you still haven't gotten your act together by them, I'll have to intervene."

"How would you intervene?" Bella asked.

"Easy, I'd make him so jealous he'd admit how he really felt." Jacob said, moving closer to Bella and dropping a kiss on her cheek.

When Bella subtly turned to Emmett she was disappointed to see he was facing further away and still seemed distracted by his phone. Jacob however had seen Emmett watching as he kissed Bella, he'd also noticed the way he had immediately turned away so he didn't have to witness the affection between the friends.

"I have to be off." Jacob said, climbing into his truck. "Bye Bella."

"Bye, Jake." Bella replied, steeping back from the roadside. "See you next week."

After watching Jacob leave, Bella turned back to face Emmett. He'd now put his phone away and already had the passenger door to the car open. Silently Bella climbed into the car and the pair drove back to The Cullen house without speaking to each other. Neither spoke until they were inside the house and settled down on the largest sofa.

"Jake was right, you know." Emmett suddenly announced.

"Right about what?" Bella asked, wondering if Emmett had been listening to the conversation after all.

"About us." Emmett responded. "I think it's time we stopped avoiding the fact we like each other."

"I haven't been avoiding it." Bella insisted. "You're the one who's spent the last six weeks making sure we're barely alone together."

"You're right, and I'm sorry." Emmett said. "I've just been trying to make sense of some things."

"Anything I can help with?" Bella asked.

"Actually, yes." Emmett said, gearing himself up to tell Bella about their bond. "Jasper told me something I think you ought to know."

"Do I need to know about it right this second?" Bella asked. An impulse had just popped into her head and she wanted to act on it before she lost her nerve, talking would only result in her losing her bottle.

"No, it can wait a little bit." Emmett replied confused.

"Good." Bella said, taking a deep breath. "There's something I have to do before we talk."

Before Emmett had a chance to question Bella more she leant forward and pressed her lips against his. Bella was slightly hesitant with the kiss as Edward had always told her to keep as still as possible while they kissed so he didn't lose control. Emmett was slightly taken aback by Bella's forwardness but it only took him a few seconds to regain his senses and take control of the kiss.

Emmett flicked his tongue out causing Bella to moan at the contact. Emmett quickly took advantage of Bella's open mouth and deepened the kiss. Bella could sense Emmett was being careful with her, but even as restrained as he was the kiss was ten times more passion filled than any kiss she had shared with Edward. As their tongue's continued to explore each other, Bella wrapped her arms around Emmett's neck and moved closer to the large vampire.

After a few minutes Emmett reluctantly pulled away. He could have happily carried on kissing Bella but he knew she needed to breathe, unlike him.

"Sorry." Bella gasped, still trying to regain her breath after the kiss. "I know you wanted to talk but I had to do that."

"Screw talking, we can do that later." Emmett grinned. "I have no objection to you kissing me. You can do that whenever you want."

Bella smiled and once more moved her lips to Emmett's. Bella was actually surprised that she was being so forward with Emmett but unlike when she was with Edward she wasn't worried about being rejected for making the first move.

Like their first kiss minutes earlier the second kiss soon got fairly heated as well. Emmett ran his hands down Bella's body and had just manoeuvred her onto his lap when the front door opened and Alice's squeal of surprise disturbed the couple. Bella and Emmett both turned their heads to find Alice and Esme standing in the doorway gaping in surprise.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt." Esme said as Alice observed them with a puzzled expression on her face. "Come on Alice, let's go."

Alice started to protest but Esme hurried the small vampire out of the front room and into the kitchen. Both Bella and Emmett could hear Alice puzzling over why she didn't know her and Esme were going to interrupt something between them. As Alice worried about her visions being broken Emmett and Bella turned back to each other.

"That was so embarrassing." Bella moaned, dropping her head to Emmett's shoulder.

"It could have been worse." Emmett chuckled. "At least we were fully clothed."

Bella's face flushed bright red at the implication and she quickly moved away from Emmett. Emmett laughed briefly at Bella before he stood up and held his hand out for her to grab hold of.

"Come on, we'll get out of here so we can talk properly." Emmett said, pulling Bella up.

After shouting a quick goodbye to Esme and Alice, Emmett and Bella left the Cullen house. Jumping into Emmett's car they drove to Bella's house where they settled down to have a serious talk about what was going on with them.


End file.
